Is low heart rate variability associated with an increased risk of a first cardiovascular event in populations without known cardiovascular disease?
Low heart rate variability is a significant predictor of first cardiovascular events in individuals without known cardiovascular disease.
In conclusion, low HRV is associated with a 32-45% increased risk of a first cardiovascular event in populations without known CVD. An increase in SDNN of 1% results in an ∼1% lower risk of fatal or non-fatal CVD.
Hillebrand et al. (2013) studied this question.