Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41094557›Full record

ArticleSystematic reviews2025

Heart rate variability and suicidal thoughts and behaviour: study protocol for a systematic review.

Sonja Omlor, Norbert Scherbaum, Inken Höller, Thomas Forkmann

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Systematic reviews, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

4 authors.

Sonja OmlorLVR-University-Hospital Essen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany. sonja.omlor@uni-due.de.ORCID 0009-0006-3555-2165
Norbert ScherbaumLVR-University-Hospital Essen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Inken HöllerDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Charlotte Fresenius Hochschule, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Thomas ForkmannDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAs 700,000 people per year commit suicide worldwide, improvements in suicide prevention and the prediction of suicide attempts or suicide in clinical care are mandatory. This systematic review aims to examine heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) as risk factors for the development of suicidal thoughts and behaviour in clinical and non-clinical populations. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The systematic review will be conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA). We will retrieve relevant literatures across the following databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library and Web of Science. Additionally, we will manually search the reference lists of all relevant articles. If studies are published or translated in English and measure HRV or HR and suicidal thoughts or behaviour, they will be included. Two reviewers will independently complete the article selection, data extraction and risk of bias ratings. A third reviewer will resolve disagreements. Tabular and narrative synthesis will be done accordingly and a risk of bias assessment will be conducted by the QUIPS (Quality In Prognosis) tool. DISCUSSION: This systematic review will present evidence from which conclusions can be made regarding the relationship between HRV and HR and suicidal thoughts and behaviour. By identifying risk factors associated with suicidality and differentiating between factors for suicidal thoughts versus behaviour, this review will potentially contribute theoretically to our understanding of the causal factors involved in influencing increasing levels of suicidality. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This is a systematic review of published literature and thereby ethical approval was not sought. Results will be disseminated through conferences and publications in relevant peer-reviewed journals. STRENGTH AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY: The results will have important implications for risk prediction for suicidal thoughts and behaviour. The protocol follows the PRISMA guidelines (Page et al.,BMJ 372:n71,2021). Thus, two reviewers will perform data extraction and risk of bias evaluation separately. We will exclude non-English translated or published studies, which might be a limitation and bias against non-English-speaking countries. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023460068.

Indexed as

Heart RateSuicidal IdeationHumansResearch DesignRisk FactorsSuicide, AttemptedSystematic Reviews as TopicBiomarkerHeart rateHeart rate variabilitySuicidal behaviourSuicidal thoughts

Identifiers

PMID41094557
PMCPMC12522584

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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.