Heart Rate Variability and Aging Rate in Women with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder during Russian-Ukrainian War, 2023

Abstract. This study aims to investigate changes in heart rate variability (HRV) in women with PTSD during the Russian-Ukrainian war, in 2023. The study included 16 women with PTSD (age 49.60 ± 1.46 years) and 31 women (control, age 52.10 ± 1.27 years) aged from 30 to 69 years old, who were examined. Blood pressure, heart rate and ECG measurements were taken in the supine positions (within 5 minutes). HRV scores were calculated in the time domain and frequency domain. In women with PTSD, there was significantly lower control in the values of SDNN and TP values, which characterize the total power of neurohumoral regulation of heart rate (p< 0.05). The baroreflex activity, assessed by the spectral power of low-frequency waves (LF), in women with PTSD did not change significantly compared to controls. The differences in the indicators characterizing vagal influences were especially pronounced: in women with PTSD, RMSSD, pNN50 and HF component of HRV were lower than in controls. The sympathovagal balance (LF/HF) in women with PTSD, compared with the control, is shifted towards the predominance of sympathetic activity. The average BA in the group of people with PTSD was 57.30±1.32 years and in the control group – 55.65 ± 0.97 years. The difference between BA and CA is 7.72±1.42 years in the women with PTSD and 3.55 ± 1.06 in the control group (p< 0.05). From this, we can conclude that PTSD can be a factor in accelerating ageing. The data obtained in our study allow us to conclude that PTSD may be a factor that disrupts autonomic regulation and accelerates ageing. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Keywords: heart rate variability, posttraumatic stress disorder, Ukraine 2023.