Key result
Long COVID in young adults is linked to lower very-low-frequency HRV and aberrant autonomic neuroactivity.
Why the study?
Long-term COVID-19 may affect the autonomic nervous system, warranting evaluation of autonomic status in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 during this phase using heart rate variability.
Does long COVID affect heart rate variability and autonomic nervous system function in young to middle-aged adults?
Cross-Sectional (n=173)
No
Does long COVID affect heart rate variability and autonomic nervous system function in young to middle-aged adults?
Mild-to-moderate COVID-19 may lead to autonomic dysfunction and reduced vagal activity, particularly in young adults under 25 years of age experiencing long COVID.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May signal autonomic involvement in young long COVID patients; leaves open causality and clinical utility pending prospective studies.
BACKGROUND: Long-term COVID-19 (LC), which may affect the autonomic nervous system (ANS), is the term for the symptoms that some patients had for an additional month after contracting the virus. Therefore, during the LC phase, ANS status was evaluated in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 using heart rate variability (HRV), a measurement of ANS function. METHODS: A cross-sectional research with 173 participants - both positive and negative for COVID-19 - was conducted. Based on self-reports, patients with COVID-19 were classified as to whether they had LC or not. A 5-minute ECG recorder and data detection and response report were used to measure the ANS. RESULTS: There were notable age differences across the groups (p = 0.034). Patients with LC under 25 years of age had a lower HRV categorized as a very-low-frequency (VLF) domain (p = 0.012). Compared to the group without LC, a higher number of people in the LC group had aberrant autonomic neuroactivity (p = 0.048). CONCLUSION: Mild-to-moderate patients with COVID-19 in young to middle age may develop autonomic dysfunction one month after infection.
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Qin et al. (2025) conducted a cross-sectional in Long COVID-19 (n=173). Long COVID-19 vs. Recovered COVID-19 without Long COVID and healthy controls was evaluated on Very-low-frequency (VLF) heart rate variability in participants under 25 years old (p=0.012). Long COVID in young adults under 25 years of age was associated with significantly lower very-low-frequency heart rate variability and higher rates of aberrant autonomic neuroactivity compared to recovered patients without long COVID.
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