Assessing the feasibility of heart rate variability as an objective indicator of anxiety in older adults with dementia living in care homes

Quinci, M. A. and Astell, A. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6822-9472 (2021) Assessing the feasibility of heart rate variability as an objective indicator of anxiety in older adults with dementia living in care homes. BMC research notes, 14 (1). 48. ISSN 1756-0500 doi: 10.1186/s13104-021-05458-2

Abstract/Summary

Objective Anxiety is reportedly prevalent in older adults with dementia living in care homes and, within this population, is most often assessed through caregiver reports. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a physiological indicator of autonomic function, whereby reduced vagally-mediated HRV is associated with a variety of anxiety symptoms and disorders. This study evaluates the feasibility of collecting HRV data within this population, presents HRV data for older adults with dementia living in a care home, and examines HRV in the context of self-reported anxiety. These data were collected during a larger study examining an exercise intervention. Results: HRV data, in the form of log-transformed root mean square of the successive differences (lnRMSSD), were in line with transformed data from previous research. These data provide a promising direction for the use of wrist-worn devices in future HRV research with people living with dementia in care homes.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/95793
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Ageing Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords	HRV dementia
Publisher	Biomed Central
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