Title | Heart rate variability in individuals with autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis. | ||
Author | Cheng, Ying-Chih; Huang, Yu-Chen; Huang, Wei-Lieh | ||
Journal | Neurosci Biobehav Rev | Publication Year/Month | 2020-Nov |
PMID | 32818581 | PMCID | -N/A- |
Affiliation + expend | 1.Department of Psychiatry, China Medical University Hsinchu Hospital, China Medical University, Hsinchu, Taiwan; Department of Public Health and Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Research Center of Big Data and Meta-analysis, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. |
Heart rate variability (HRV) in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been investigated in some studies but the procedures and results vary. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare HRV in individuals with and without ASD; the influence of different conditions and HRV indices is considered. Baseline HRV and HRV reactivity were analyzed in several ways: parasympathetic indices in hierarchical order (main analysis), total variability, specific parasympathetic indices and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), etc. The review covered 34 studies for quantitative analysis. Individuals with ASD had a significantly lower baseline HRV for parasympathetic indices in hierarchical order (Hedges\'g=-0.5168, p < 0.0001) and RSA (g=-0.5860, p=0.0010). The reactivity of HRV in situations of social stress (g=-0.4647, p = 0.0033) and social debriefing (g=-0.5001, p = 0.0007) was also significantly lower in subjects with ASD. RSA reactivity was significantly lower in ASD group for all situations, with the largest effect size for social stress (g=-0.7246, p < 0.0001). The results support low HRV to be a potential biomarker of ASD, especially RSA reactivity under social stress.