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Is heart rate variability associated with frequency and intensity of vasomotor symptoms among healthy perimenopausal and postmenopausal women?

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Abstract

Objective

Research has suggested that the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is involved in the experience of vasomotor symptoms (VMS) during menopause. We examined the relationship of VMS intensity and heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of ANS function.

Methods

Women (n = 282) were recruited from three American states for a clinical trial of yoga, exercise, and omega-3 fatty acid supplements for VMS. To be eligible, women had to report at least 14 VMS per week, with some being moderate to severe. Sitting electrocardiograms were recorded for 15 min using Holter monitors at both baseline and 12-week follow-up. Time and frequency domain HRV measures were calculated. Women completed daily diary measures of VMS frequency and intensity for 2 weeks at baseline and for 1 week at the follow-up assessment 12 weeks later. Multivariable linear regression was used to assess the relationship between VMS and baseline HRV measures and to compare change in HRV with change in VMS over the 12 weeks.

Results

Baseline HRV was not associated with either VMS frequency or intensity at baseline. Change in HRV was not associated with change in VMS frequency or intensity across the follow-up.

Interpretation

Heart rate variability (HRV) was not associated with basal VMS frequency or intensity in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women experiencing high levels of VMS. Autonomic function may be associated with the onset or presence of VMS, but not with the number or intensity of these symptoms.

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Acknowledgments

Funding/support

This study was supported by a cooperative agreement issued by the NIA, in collaboration with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the Office of Research and Women’s Health, and by NIA Grants U01 AG032656, U01AG032659, U01AG032669, U01AG032682, U01AG032699, and U01AG032700. The study was also funded in part by an administrative supplement to the Group Health Research Institute site AG032682-02S1 from the National Institute on Aging. At the Indiana University site, the project was funded in part with support from the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, funded in part by Grant UL1 RR025761 from the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources, Clinical and Translational Sciences Award. The omega-3 study supplement (omega-3, n-3, or polyunsaturated fatty acids) was manufactured as eicosapentaenoic acid and donated, with matching placebo, by Nordic Naturals (Watsonville, CA). Clinical trial registration: NCT01178892 (ClinicalTrials.gov). Dr. Jones was funded by the National Institute on Aging (T32 AG027677).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Group Health Research Institute, 1730 Minor Ave, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA

    Salene M. W. Jones & Katherine M. Newton

  2. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    Katherine A. Guthrie & Julie Hunt

  3. University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Andrea Z. LaCroix

  4. Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA

    Barbara Sternfeld, Andrea Dunn & Bette Caan

  5. School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Carol A. Landis

  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Susan D. Reed

  7. Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Lee S. Cohen

Authors
  1. Salene M. W. Jones
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  2. Katherine A. Guthrie
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  3. Andrea Z. LaCroix
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  4. Barbara Sternfeld
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  5. Carol A. Landis
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  6. Susan D. Reed
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  7. Andrea Dunn
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  8. Bette Caan
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  9. Lee S. Cohen
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  10. Julie Hunt
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  11. Katherine M. Newton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Salene M. W. Jones.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. LaCroix has been supported by Sanofi-Aventis for an unrelated project. Dr. Newton serves on the board of the North American Menopause Society. The remaining authors (Jones, Guthrie, Sternfeld, Landis, Reed, Dunn, Caan, Cohen, Hunt) do not have any conflicts of interest to report.

Ethical standard

This study complied with all ethical guidelines including the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.

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Jones, S.M.W., Guthrie, K.A., LaCroix, A.Z. et al. Is heart rate variability associated with frequency and intensity of vasomotor symptoms among healthy perimenopausal and postmenopausal women?. Clin Auton Res 26, 7–13 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-015-0322-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-015-0322-x

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