Comparative study of Heart Rate Variability in normotensive offsprings of hypertensive parents

Hypertension or prehypertension are the diseases which affect entire body. Many times there would have been organ damage even before the diagnosis of hypertension. So it becomes very essential to diagnose hypertension or rather prehypertension at an early stage so that the preventive measures can be employed. Heart rate variability (HRV) proves to be the best tool to diagnose prehypertension at early stage. The aim of this study was to record HRV in offsprings of hypertensive parents and offsprings of normotensive parents and compare the results between the two groups. A cross sectional study was done in I MBBS students (2011-2012) of S.Nijalingappa Medical college, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India. 20 cases were obtained and were matched with 20 controls, HRV was recorded in both the groups using polyrite and analysed for time and frequency domain parameters. Statistical analysis was done by Unpaired t test using EPI-info software. The time domain parameters were found to be decreased in cases but were not statistically significant. Low frequency domain (LF) was higher and high frequency domain (HF) was lower in cases when compared to controls and the difference was statistically significant. The LF/HF ratio was also higher in cases and was statistically significant. There is increased sympathetic drive and decreased parasympathetic drive in cases when compared to controls indicating autonomic imbalance in the predisposed group. So if detected earlier, preventive measures can be undertaken to prevent prehypertension and subsequently hypertension in them.