ABSTRACT
Background: The main cause for most of the old age complication is due to derangement of cardiovascular and autonomic nervous activity. This study was proposed to record and asses the HRV in elderly population involved with respect to Body mass index to predict and prevent further deterioration and thereby help the elder to lead more normal, healthy and active life. Materials& methods: 80 normal volunteers were selected, with ages between 55 to 85 years. They were evaluated clinically for Heart rate variability (HRV) and body mass index. Based on BMI, subjects were divided in to two groups. Group I with 40 subjects whose BMI was ≤25 and group II with 40 subjects whose BMI was 25 to 30. To assess the autonomic changes, in this study different parameters of HRV were recorded in both the groups and compared during normal (N), deep breathing (DB) and cold pressor test (CPT) conditions. Results showed that the SDANN, Time domain HRV was more in subjects with high BMI when compared to subjects with normal BMI during normal condition, in CPT condition parasympathetic activity was more in subjects with high BMI compared to subjects with normal BMI. Conclusion; This study showed in old age higher the BMI more the HRV and the degree of parasympathetic activity was more in higher BMI.