Key result
Flight phobia links to ~8 bpm higher aHR when entering a plane, reflecting increased anxiety.
Why the study?
The emotional component of heart rate can be estimated as additional HR above that predicted by O2 consumption, but substituting minute ventilation for O2 consumption had not been evaluated.
Does substituting minute ventilation for O2 consumption to calculate additional heart rate accurately reflect subjective anxiety in flight phobics during physical activity?
Observational (n=43)
Does substituting minute ventilation for O2 consumption to calculate additional heart rate accurately reflect subjective anxiety in flight phobics during physical activity?
Absolute Event Rate: 17.5% vs 9.9%
Substituting minute ventilation for oxygen consumption provides a useful method for estimating the emotional component of heart rate in individuals experiencing stress during physical activity.
May aid emotional HR assessment in flight phobics; hypothesis-generating, needs prospective validation before practice change.
Both physical activity and emotion produce physiological activation. The emotional component of heart rate (HR) can be estimated as the additional HR (aHR) above that predicted by O2 consumption. Our innovation was to substitute minute ventilation (V) for O2 consumption, calculating aHR from individual relations between V and HR during an exercise test. We physiologically monitored 28 flight phobics and 15 non-anxious controls while walking (leaving the hospital, entering a plane), and during a commercial flight. Raw HR did not differ between phobics and controls when leaving the hospital (118/114 bpm) or entering the plane (117/110 bpm). However, although aHR was not different when leaving the hospital (7.0/8.6 bpm), it was significantly greater when entering the plane (17.5/9.9 bpm), accurately reflecting the increased subjective anxiety of the phobics. V was not higher in phobics than controls during any condition, suggesting an absence of hyperventilation in the phobics. The results demonstrate the utility of our method for analyzing HR in people whose stress occurs when they are physically active.
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Wilhelm et al. (1998) conducted an observational in Flight phobia (n=43). Flight phobia vs. Non-anxious controls was evaluated on Additional heart rate (aHR) when entering the plane. Flight phobics exhibited a significantly greater additional heart rate than controls when entering a plane (17.5 vs 9.9 bpm), accurately reflecting their increased subjective anxiety.
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