Spirituality and autonomic cardiac control

Abstract

Background: Spirituality has been suggested to be associated with positive health, but potential biological mediators have not been well characterized. Purpose and Methods: The present study examined, in a population-based sample of middle-aged and older adults, the potential relationship between spirituality and patterns of cardiac autonomic control, which may have health significance. Measures of parasympathetic (high-frequency heart rate variability) and sympathetic (pre-ejection period) cardiac control were obtained from a representative sample of 229 participants. Participants completed questionnaires to assess spirituality (closeness to and satisfactory relationship with God). Personality, demographic, anthropometric, health behavior, and health status information was also obtained. A series of hierarchical regression models was used to examine the relations between spirituality, the autonomic measures, and two derived indexes-cardiac autonomic balance (CAB, reflecting parasympathetic to sympathetic balance) and cardiac autonomic regulation (CAR, reflecting total autonomic control). Results: Spirituality, net of demographics, or other variables were found to be associated with enhanced parasympathetic as well as sympathetic cardiac control (yielding a higher CAR) but was not associated with CAB. Although the number of cases was small (N=11), both spirituality and CAR were significant negative predictors of the prior occurrence of a myocardial infarction. Conclusions: In a population-based sample, spirituality appears to be associated with a specific pattern of CAR, characterized by a high level of cardiac autonomic control, irrespective of the relative contribution of the two autonomic branches. This pattern of autonomic control may have health significance. © 2008 The Society of Behavioral Medicine.