Difference of the Heart Rate Variability According to the Social Support Level in a County

Shin, Yoo Shup; Byun, Ji Sang; Kim, Seok Hyeon; Shin, Jin Ho; Choi, Bo Youl; Nam, Jung Hyun; Oh, Dong Hoon

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The present study takes part of the agricultural district cohort study of a certain county located in Gyeonggido and aims to investigate the difference of the heart rate variability(HRV) according to the social support level.
METHODS
We used data from 1727 participants of a health promotion program who are older than 40 years old. A physical examination, as well as a one-to-one interview to obtain sociodemographic characteristics, was performed with each participant. In addition, the participants completed the Medical Outcomes Study-Social Support Survey(MOS-SSS) for their the social support level to be assessed, and their HRV were measured to evaluate their autonomic function. The entire group was divided in two groups according to its MOS-SSS points to facilitate the research. Those who were evaluated as the high 25%(432 persons) were denominated as high social support (HSS) group and those who were evaluated as the low 25%(425 persons) were denominated as poor social support(PSS) group.
RESULTS
The two groups showed significant differences on the sociodemographic factor such as mean age and gender composition(p<0.05). Comparing the indices related to the HRV, the HSS group had the following values higher than the PSS group : SDNN(F=4.938, p=0.027), TP(F=8.088, p=0.005), VLF(F=6.220, p=0.013) LF (F=3.873, p=0.049).
CONCLUSION
According to the research, the PSS group showed dysfunction on their autonomic nervous system comparing to the HSS group. The social support helps an individual overcome difficulties, helps the adaptation during the changes of circumstances and in stressful situations it serves like a buffer. Based on that, it's possible to define that a low social support level gave an impact on the autonomic function. Also, using the fact that the HRV can evaluate the autonomic function in an objective view, it was possible to visualize that it has a potential to be used as an assistant factor to evaluate the social support.