Key result
Older age and diabetes are linked to substantially lower cardiac autonomic variability vs healthy controls.
Why the study?
Heart rate variability reflects autonomic cardiac modulation and may vary with age and diabetes mellitus, but age- and diabetes-associated HRV patterns require examination.
Does heart rate variability differ between young healthy controls, older healthy controls, and diabetic patients?
Cross-Sectional (n=58)
Does heart rate variability differ between young healthy controls, older healthy controls, and diabetic patients?
Absolute Event Rate: 1593.94% vs 5854.8%
Both older age and diabetes are associated with reduced cardiac autonomic variability as measured by short-term heart rate variability.
Association of older age and diabetes with lower cardiac autonomic variability is hypothesis-generating; prospective studies needed before clinical adoption.
Background: Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects autonomic modulation of cardiac activity and may vary with age and diabetes mellitus. This study examined age- and diabetes-associated patterns in HRV using short-term electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings. Methods: Six-minute lead-II ECG signals were acquired at 256 Hz using a custom-made three-lead ECG system from 20 young healthy controls, 20 older healthy controls, and 18 diabetic patients. The signals were preprocessed, RR intervals were detected using a MATLAB-based algorithm, and HRV was analysed in Kubios using time-domain, frequency-domain, and nonlinear measures. Results: Compared with young healthy controls, the older and diabetic groups showed lower mean values for SDNN, RMSSD, NN50, pNN50, TINN, total power, SD1, and SD2. Mean total power was 5854.80 ms² in young healthy controls, 1620.80 ms² in older healthy controls, and 1593.94 ms² in diabetic patients. Mean SD1 values were 52.92, 12.56, and 11.13 ms, respectively, while mean SD2 values were 98.66, 47.94, and 51.41 ms. The diabetic and older healthy groups displayed broadly similar descriptive HRV patterns. Conclusion: The findings indicate lower cardiac autonomic variability in the older and diabetic groups under the study conditions. Larger, matched studies with standardised recording conditions and inferential analyses are required.
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Das et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Diabetes mellitus and aging (n=58). Diabetes mellitus and older age vs. Young healthy controls was evaluated on Mean total power (ms²). Older age and diabetes mellitus were associated with lower cardiac autonomic variability compared to young healthy controls (e.g., mean total power 1620.80 and 1593.94 vs 5854.80 ms²).
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