Premium
Changes in heart rate variability among RF plastic sealer operators
Author(s) -
Wilén Jonna,
Wiklund Urban,
Hörnsten Rolf,
Sandström Monica
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.20276
Subject(s) - heart rate variability , radio frequency , cardiology , heart rate , medicine , heart rhythm , modulation (music) , autonomic nervous system , rhythm , resting heart rate , physics , telecommunications , blood pressure , acoustics , engineering
In a previous study, we showed that operators of radiofrequency (RF) plastic sealers, RF operators ( n = 35) had a lower heart rate during nighttime compared to a control group ( n = 37). We have analyzed the heart rate variability (HRV) on the same group of people to better understand the possible underlying rhythm disturbances. We found a significantly increased total HRV and very low frequency (VLF) power during nighttime among the RF operators compared to a control group. Together with our previous finding of a significantly lower heart rate during nighttime among the RF operators compared to the controls, this finding indicates a relative increase in parasympathetic cardiac modulation in RF operators. This could in turn be due to an adaptation of the thermoregulatory system and the cardiac autonomic modulation to a long‐term low‐level thermal exposure in the RF operators. Bioelectromagnetics © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.