Heart rate variability during sleep in detoxified alcohol-dependent males: A comparison with healthy controls

Context: Alcohol dependence can lead to autonomic neuropathy resulting in increased cardiac morbidity and mortality. This has previously been evaluated using heart-rate variability. Aims: We compared sleep heart-rate variability of alcohol-dependent patients with that of healthy controls in this study. Settings and Design: This study was conducted at NIMHANS, Bangalore. A case control study design was adopted. Materials and Methods: Sleep heart-rate variability of 20 male alcohol-dependent inpatients was recorded on the 5th day after detoxification. Sleep heart-rate variability was also recorded in 18 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Statistical Analysis: The groups were compared using t-test for continuous variables and Chi-squared test for discrete variables. Results: Both time and frequency domain measures were significantly lower in the patients as compared to the controls, indicating decreased HRV in alcohol-dependent individuals. Conclusions: Decreased HRV in alcohol dependence indicates potential autonomic neuropathy.