Table 1
Baseline characteristics and descriptive statistics of study participants.
| Variable | HIV– (n = 123) | HIV+ (n = 196) | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics (n, %) | ||||||
| Age (mean, SD) | 38.9 | (12.8) | 43.8 | (9.3) | <0.001 | |
| Sex | Woman | 43 | (35%) | 108 | (55%) | <0.001 |
| Education | Low | 17 | (14%) | 51 | (26%) | <0.001 |
| Middle | 85 | (69%) | 137 | (70%) | ||
| High | 21 | (17%) | 8 | (4%) | ||
| Income | ≤R600 | 90 | (73%) | 121 | (63%) | <0.04 |
| R600–3100 | 11 | (9%) | 19 | (10%) | ||
| R3100–11000 | 15 | (12%) | 47 | (24%) | ||
| ≥R11000 | 7 | (6%) | 6 | (3%) | ||
| Smoking | Never | 63 | (51%) | 128 | (65%) | 0.04 |
| Past | 19 | (15%) | 18 | (9%) | ||
| Current | 41 | (33%) | 50 | (26%) | ||
| Alcohol | Never | 43 | (35%) | 102 | (52%) | <0.001 |
| Past | 20 | (16%) | 32 | (16%) | ||
| Current | 60 | (49%) | 62 | (32%) | ||
| Physical Activity | Active | 89 | (72%) | 103 | (52%) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 4 | (3%) | 7 | (4%) | 1 | |
| Medication for | Diabetes | 2 | (2%) | 2 | (1%) | 0.63 |
| High BP | 5 | (4%) | 12 | (6%) | 0.57 | |
| ART first line (TDF+ FTC+ EFV) | 0 | 0% | 182 | (93%) | ||
| ART second line (AZT+ 3TC+ LPV/r or AZT +TDF+3TC+LPV/r) | 0 | 0% | 14 | (7%) | ||
| Physical measurements | ||||||
| BMI kg/m2 (median, IQR) | 22.7 | (20.8–27.7) | 23.8 | (20.5–27.7) | 0.72 | |
| Systolic BP (mmHg; mean, SD) | 140 | (16) | 134 | (16) | 0.01 | |
| Diastolic BP (mmHg; mean, SD) | 98 | (16) | 97 | (15) | 0.71 | |
| Glucose (median, IQR) | 4.5 | (4.1–4.9) | 4.7 | (4.4–5.2) | 0.01 | |
| Total cholesterol (median, IQR) | 4.0 | (3.5–4.9) | 4.0 | (3.6–4.9) | 0.89 | |
| HDL cholesterol (median, IQR) | 1.4 | (1.2–1.6) | 1.5 | (1.3–1.7) | 0.6 | |
| LDL cholesterol (median, IQR) | 2.2 | (1.7–2.9) | 2.00 | (1.7–2.7) | 0.23 | |
| Triglycerides (median, IQR) | 0.9 | (0.7–1.3) | 1 | (0.7–1.5) | 0.12 | |
[i] SD; standard deviation, IQR; inter quartile range, ART; antiretroviral therapy, TDF; tenofovir, FTC; emtricitabine or lamivudine, EFV; efavirenz, AZT; zidovudine, 3TC; lamivudine, LPV/r; lopinavir/ritonavir, BP; blood pressure, HDL; high-density lipoprotein, LDL; low-density lipoprotein.
Table 2
Distribution of heart rate variability.
| Variable | HIV status | Mean | Median (IQR) | p-value | Min. | Max. | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TF Power | HIV– | 1874.1 | 1478.5 (1025.5–2278.2) | <0.01 | 126.9 | 6792.5 | 4918.4 |
| HIV+ | 1495.4 | 1191.7 (647.7–2119.2) | 53.05 | 5264.6 | 5211.6 | ||
| LF Power | HIV– | 504.1 | 356.2 (203.9–673.8) | <0.001 | 43.2 | 1968.9 | 1925.7 |
| HIV+ | 364.2 | 258.5 (127.8–496.1) | 4.9 | 1885.7 | 1880.8 | ||
| HF Power | HIV– | 579.4 | 424.5 (192.6–765.3) | <0.01 | 12.9 | 3382.0 | 3369.0 |
| HIV+ | 426.3 | 265.8 (133.1–536.5) | 6.9 | 2666.8 | 2659.9 | ||
| SDNN | HIV– | 45.5 | 43.2 (31.7–54.3) | <0.001 | 8.4 | 158.6 | 150.2 |
| HIV+ | 38.2 | 34.2 (24.7–47.7) | 5.6 | 121.7 | 121.2 | ||
| RMSSD | HIV– | 49.2 | 43.3 (28.1–64.2) | <0.001 | 4.3 | 231.9 | 227.6 |
| HIV+ | 38.4 | 32.1 (20.3–47.4) | 4.5 | 154.7 | 150.2 | ||
| PNN50 | HIV– | 25.3 | 20.4 (3.6–41.0) | <0.001 | 0.0 | 73.3 | 73.3 |
| HIV+ | 15.2 | 6.9 (0.9–24.4) | 0.0 | 76.0 | 76.0 |
[i] IQR; inter quartile range, Min.; minimum, Max.; maximum, SDNN; standard deviation of the normal RR intervals, RMSSD; the root of the mean squares of successive RR differences, pNN50; the percentage of RR intervals greater than fifty milliseconds different from its predecessor, TF; total-frequency, LF; low-frequency and HF; high-frequency power.
Figure 1
Distribution of heart rate variability. SDNN; standard deviation of the normal RR intervals, RMSSD; the root of the mean squares of successive RR differences, pNN50; the percentage of RR intervals greater than fifty milliseconds different from its predecessor, TF; total-frequency, LF; low-frequency and HF; high-frequency power.
Table 3
Association between HRV parameters and HIV.
| Model | HIV | Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age and Sex | Model 1 + CVD risk factors | Model 2 + income & education | ||||||
| HIV | HIV | HIV | HIV | |||||
| B Coef. | p-value | B Coef. | p-value | B Coef. | p-value | B Coef. | p-value | |
| log SDNN | –0.19 | <0.001 | –0.10 | 0.05 | –0.11 | 0.04 | –0.11 | 0.057 |
| log RMSSD | –0.27 | <0.001 | –0.15 | 0.05 | –0.16 | 0.04 | –0.16 | 0.04 |
| log pNN50 | –0.92 | <0.001 | –0.52 | 0.02 | –0.59 | 0.01 | –0.60 | 0.01 |
| log TF power | –0.26 | <0.01 | –0.10 | 0.22 | –0.11 | 0.20 | –0.10 | 0.33 |
| log LF power | –0.38 | <0.001 | –0.16 | 0.11 | –0.14 | 0.18 | –0.15 | 0.24 |
| log HF power | –0.39 | <0.01 | –0.18 | 0.12 | –0.20 | 0.09 | –0.17 | 0.19 |
[i] Model 2 includes BMI, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol use, systolic blood pressure, glucose and total cholesterol. HDL, LDL and TG were excluded due to multicollinearity with each other and/or total cholesterol. Diabetes was excluded due to multicollinearity with glucose.
Coef.; coefficient, SDNN; standard deviation of the normal RR intervals, RMSSD; the root of the mean squares of successive RR differences, pNN50; the percentage of RR intervals greater than fifty milliseconds different from its predecessor, TF; total-frequency, LF; low-frequency and HF; high-frequency.
Reference category: HIV-uninfected woman with low education, income < 600R, non-smoker, no alcohol use and physically active.