Effects of anxiety on QT dispersion in healthy young men.

OBJECTIVE: QT dispersion (QTd) is the maximal interlead difference in QT interval on the surface 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). An increase in QTd is found in various cardiac diseases and reflects cardiac autonomic imbalance. It has recently been associated with increased anxiety levels, thereby predisposing affected individuals to fatal heart disease. This is the biggest study to assess QTd in anxiety, as a marker of anxiety-induced cardiac dysregulation. METHODS AND RESULTS: QTd and rate-corrected QTd (QTcd) were measured in 726 physically and mentally healthy male volunteers, aged 21.23 +/- 1.25 years (range 20-26). The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was scored concomitantly. The intra- and inter-observer reproducibilities of QTd were highly correlated (r = 0.92, p < 0.001; r = 0.93, p < 0.001, respectively). QTd and QTcd significantly correlated with the STAI-I subscale (State Anxiety Scale) (r = 0.529, p < 0.001; r = 0.518, p < 0.001, respectively) and STAI-2 subscale (Trait Anxiety Scale) (r = 0.601, p < 0.001; r = 0.563, p < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The State Anxiety Scale and the Trait Anxiety Scale are associated with an increase in QTd. This association may result from sudden and prolonged anxiety and, in turn, a decrease in vagal modulation and/or increase in sympathetic modulation. This is the first study that shows that increased QTd can serve as a state/trait marker. But further large-scale epidemiological studies are needed to determine if increased QTd is a risk factor for sudden cardiac death in patients with anxiety.

[Factors affecting the satisfaction of recruits with the military environment]. / Acemi erlerin yasam kosullarindan memnuniyetini belirleyen faktörlerin incelenmesi.

OBJECTIVE: Life satisfaction is one of the global indicators of adjustment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of individual and familial characteristics, and attitudes towards military service of new recruits in terms of their satisfaction with the fundamental principles of military service and daily military lifestyle and environment. METHODS: The study was conducted among 214 soldiers recruited one month previously in an orientation camp for privates located in an Istanbul military center. All subjects were administered a questionnaire concerning individual and familial sociodemographic features and their feelings about the fundamental principles of military service and daily military lifestyle and environment. RESULTS: Variables included in the questionnaire such as "prior concern about military service", "unexpected timing of military service", "disappointment with military service", "older age at onset of military service" and "higher education level of the subject himself or his mother", were found to be negatively correlated with the satisfaction levels of soldiers. All these items, excluding the education level of the mother, were determined to predict a low level of satisfaction in recruits. CONCLUSIONS: Satisfaction with the fundamental principles of military service and daily military life and environment of recruits, which is a good indicator of adjustment, is concluded to have been affected by the attitudes of individuals towards military service and expectations from this position, the educational level of soldiers and the age of the soldier at the start of military service.