Centre for Interdiscipinary Brain Research, Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Central Finland Health Care District, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Physiol Meas. 2022 May 25;43(5). doi: 10.1088/1361-6579/ac6b7c.
Autonomic nervous system function and thereby bodily stress and recovery reactions may be assessed by wearable devices measuring heart rate (HR) and its variability (HRV). So far, the validity of HRV-based stress assessments has been mainly studied in healthy populations. In this study, we determined how psychosocial stress affects physiological and psychological stress responses in both young (18-30 years) and middle-aged (45-64 years) healthy individuals as well as in patients with arterial hypertension and/or either prior evidence of prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. We also studied how an HRV-based stress index (Relax-Stress Intensity, RSI) relates to perceived stress (PS) and cortisol (CRT) responses during psychosocial stress.A total of 197 participants were divided into three groups: (1) healthy young (HY, = 63), (2) healthy middle-aged (HM, = 61) and (3) patients with cardiometabolic risk factors (Pts, = 73, 32-65 years). The participants underwent a group version of Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-G). HR, HRV (quantified as root mean square of successive differences of R-R intervals, RMSSD), RSI, PS, and salivary CRT were measured regularly during TSST-G and a subsequent recovery period.All groups showed significant stress reactions during TSST-G as indicated by significant responses of HR, RMSSD, RSI, PS, and salivary CRT. Between-group differences were also observed in all measures. Correlation and regression analyses implied RSI being the strongest predictor of CRT response, while HR was more closely associated with PS.The HRV-based stress index mirrors responses of CRT, which is an independent marker for physiological stress, around TSST-G. Thus, the HRV-based stress index may be used to quantify physiological responses to psychosocial stress across various health and age groups.
自主神经系统功能以及身体的应激和恢复反应可以通过可穿戴设备来评估，这些设备可以测量心率 (HR) 及其变异性 (HRV)。到目前为止，基于 HRV 的应激评估的有效性主要在健康人群中进行了研究。在这项研究中，我们确定了心理社会应激如何影响年轻（18-30 岁）和中年（45-64 岁）健康个体以及动脉高血压和/或先前存在糖尿病前期或 2 型糖尿病证据的患者的生理和心理应激反应。我们还研究了基于 HRV 的应激指数 (Relax-Stress Intensity, RSI) 与心理社会应激期间感知应激 (PS) 和皮质醇 (CRT) 反应的关系。
共有 197 名参与者被分为三组：(1) 健康年轻组 (HY, = 63)，(2) 健康中年组 (HM, = 61) 和 (3) 有心脏代谢危险因素的患者组 (Pts, = 73，32-65 岁)。参与者接受了特里尔社会应激测试 (TSST-G) 的团体版本。在 TSST-G 期间和随后的恢复期间，定期测量 HR、HRV（量化为 R-R 间隔连续差异的均方根，RMSSD）、RSI、PS 和唾液 CRT。
所有组在 TSST-G 期间均表现出明显的应激反应，表现为 HR、RMSSD、RSI、PS 和唾液 CRT 的显著反应。在所有测量中，组间也存在差异。相关和回归分析表明，RSI 是 CRT 反应的最强预测因子，而 HR 与 PS 更为密切相关。
基于 HRV 的应激指数反映了 CRT 反应，CRT 是生理应激的独立标志物，在 TSST-G 周围。因此，基于 HRV 的应激指数可用于量化各种健康和年龄组对心理社会应激的生理反应。
