Substance Misuse Decreases Heart Rate Variability

Abstract

There are few biomarkers to reflect the physiological conditions for substance misuse. In this study, autonomic nervous and cardiovascular parameters were measured for participants in deferred prosecution programs. The goal of this study is to develop significant biomarkers of the above subjects and enhance their motivation to join further substance misuse disorder treatment program. This study recruited 34 participants with a mean age of 35.1 years. The participants spent approximately five minutes filling in the basic information form and another five minutes filling in the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability data were also measured. Their sleep quality was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory (PSQI) with an average score of 8.6 and average systolic and diastolic pressure measured of 116.1 ( $\text{standard}\text{deviation}\left(\text{SD}\right)=13.7$ ) and 77.9 mmHg ( $\text{SD}=8.1$ ) during resting, respectively. Average heartbeat rates are 90.4 beats per minute ( $\text{SD}=17.0$ ); and average low-frequency power ratio is 56.4% ( $\text{SD}=19.8$ %). Of the participants, 35% exhibited a low-frequency power rate below 30% and above 70%. The average biological HRV age of the participants was 46.0 years ( $\text{SD}=22.9$ ), which was significantly older than their average actual age ( $p={0.002}^{\ast \ast }$ ). The biological HRV age of the participants is 10 years older than their own actual age, and it effectively reflects the physiological conditions of participants in deferred prosecution programs. These physiological parameters, especially the biological HRV age, can be used in future treatment for substance use disorder counseling programs to increase the illness insight of program participants and increase their motivation to join further substance misuse disorder treatment program.