Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37881808›Full record

ReviewNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2023

Heart Rate Variability in Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Ashvita Ramesh, Tanvi Nayak, Molly Beestrum, Giorgio Quer, Jay A Pandit

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
9.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
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  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. The circadian rhythm of heart rate variability in academic teachers with anxiety disorders.International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health · 2026
    Article
  8. Clinical Associations and Possible Risk Factors for Affective Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Ashvita Ramesh *Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Tanvi Nayak *Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9529-8908
Molly BeestrumNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
Giorgio QuerScripps Research Translational Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Jay A PanditScripps Research Translational Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Northwestern University · USScripps Research Institute · USMassachusetts General Hospital · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure of the fluctuation in time interval between consecutive heart beats. Decreased heart rate variability has been shown to have associations with autonomic dysfunction in psychiatric conditions such as depression, substance abuse, anxiety, and schizophrenia, although its use as a prognostic tool remains highly debated. This study aims to review the current literature on heart rate variability as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in psychiatric populations. Methods: A literature search was conducted using the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, and PsycINFO libraries to identify full-text studies involving adult psychiatric populations that reported HRV measurements. From 1647 originally identified, 31 studies were narrowed down through an abstract and full-text screen. Studies were excluded if they enrolled adolescents or children, used animal models, enrolled patients with another primary diagnosis other than psychiatric as outlined by the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM) V, or if they assessed HRV in the context of treatment rather than diagnosis. Study quality assessment was conducted using a modified Downs and Blacks quality assessment tool for observational rather than interventional studies. Data were reported in four tables: 1) summarizing study characteristics, 2) methods of HRV detection, 3) key findings and statistics, and 4) quality assessment. Results: There is significant variability between studies in their methodology of recording as well as reporting HRV, which makes it difficult to meaningfully interpret data that is clinically applicable due to the presence of significant bias in existing studies. The presence of an association between HRV and the severity of various psychiatric disorders, however, remains promising. Conclusion: Future studies should be done to further explore how HRV parameters may be used to enhance the diagnosis and prognosis of several psychiatric disorders.

Indexed as

digital healthheart rate variabilitypsychiatry

Identifiers

PMID37881808
PMCPMC10596135
OpenAlexW4387824326

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.