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. 2021 Feb 5;14(1):48.
doi: 10.1186/s13104-021-05458-2.

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

Milena A Quinci  1   2 , Arlene J Astell  3   4   5
Affiliations

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

Milena A Quinci et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Anxiety; Dementia; heart rate variability; long-term care.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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