Key result
Extremely low birth weight (<1000 g) was associated with significantly lower high-frequency heart rate variability, faster heart rate, and higher diastolic blood pressure compared to controls.
Why the study?
Does extremely low birth weight alter autonomic functioning (heart rate variability and blood pressure) in young adulthood compared to normal birth weight?
Observational (n=139)
Does extremely low birth weight alter autonomic functioning (heart rate variability and blood pressure) in young adulthood compared to normal birth weight?
Young adults born at extremely low birth weight exhibit altered autonomic regulation, including lower heart rate variability, faster heart rate, and higher diastolic blood pressure.
Autonomic functioning is altered in infants born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1000 g), but we know little about how such alterations manifest in adulthood. We examined associations between birth weight and resting heart rate (R-R interval), high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) heart rate variability, and systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, in 60 participants (ages 22-26) born at ELBW and free of major neurosensory impairment, and 79 controls born at normal birth weight (NBW; >2500 g). HF in the smallest-born ELBW participants was significantly lower than in NBW controls. In both groups, greater birth weight was associated with higher HF. Among ELBW survivors, lower birth weight predicted faster heart rate and higher DBP, but neither heart rate nor DBP appeared to be well-coordinated with baroreflex activity (LF), the principal mechanism for short-term blood pressure regulation. Adult autonomic regulation may be significantly altered in those born extremely preterm.
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Mathewson et al. (2015) conducted an observational in Extremely low birth weight (n=139). Extremely low birth weight vs. Normal birth weight (>2500 g) was evaluated on Resting heart rate, high-frequency and low-frequency heart rate variability, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Extremely low birth weight (<1000 g) was associated with significantly lower high-frequency heart rate variability, faster heart rate, and higher diastolic blood pressure compared to controls.
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