Association between Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Syndrome

Objective: Several studies suggested that heart rate variability (HRV) is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between HRV and metabolic syndrome among Korean adults.Methods: We included 6,945 people who visited the Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital Health Examination Center and tested HRV, from March 2016 to November 2019. Among them, 6,827 subjects were included. We excluded those who had a history of hypertension, diabetes, stroke, or other disease and excluded them from the omission of questionnaires. We examined HRV with machine WISE-8000 (MooYoo Instruments, Seongnam, Korea) and divided three groups of HRV results. The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was made using criteria modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios between HRV results and metabolic syndrome.Results: The odds ratio for metabolic syndrome in low HRV result was 2.87 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.87–3.34) compared with high HRV result. After adjustment for age, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity, the odds ratio for metabolic syndrome in low HRV result was also 3.37 (95% CI, 2.44–4.65) compared with high HRV result.Conclusion: Low HRV result using WISE-8000 (MooYoo Instruments) showed an increased risk for metabolic syndrome. HRV was associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome in Korean adults.