Effects of anxiety during mental arithmetic stress on heart rate variability in healthy subjects
Aim: Anxiety may cause an increased risk of myocardial infarction by reductions in heart rate variability (HRV). However, no data exists on the effect of anxiety on a standard mental test of HRV. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between anxiety elicited by mental stress and HRV. Methods: Effect of anxiety in the actual state (A-State) and in everyday life (A-Trait) has been assessed in 13 healthy subjects and its association to low (LF) and high-frequency (HF) of HRV during mental arithmetic stress has been tested through correlation analysis. Results: A significant increase from baseline through arithmetic stress was observed in the LF component (LF(nu) from 56.87 ± 4.…