Cited by 503Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlCardiac Health and Mental HealthVagus Nerve Stimulation Research

Autonomic nervous system dysfunction in psychiatric disorders and the impact of psychotropic medications: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Open access
Alvares, Gail A., Quintana, Daniel S., Hickie, Ian B., Guastella, Adam J.·2016·Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Abstract

Background: Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction is a putative underlying mechanism for increased cardiovascular disease risk in individuals with psychiatric disorders. Previous studies suggest that this risk may be related to psychotropic medication use. In the present study we systematically reviewed and analyzed published studies of heart rate variability (HRV), measuring ANS output, to determine the effect of psychiatric illness and medication use. Methods: We searched for studies comparing HRV in physically healthy adults with a diagnosed psychiatric disorder to controls and comparing HRV pre- and post-treatment with a psychotropic medication. Results: In total, 140 case–control (mood, anxiety, psychosis, dependent disorders, k = 151) and 30 treatment (antidepressants, antipsychotics; k = 43) studies were included. We found that HRV was reduced in all patient groups compared to controls (Hedges g = −0.583) with a large effect for psychotic disorders (Hedges g = −0.948). Effect sizes remained highly significant for medication-free patients compared to controls across all disorders. Smaller and significant reductions in HRV were observed for specific antidepressants and antipsychotics. Limitations: Study quality significantly moderated effect sizes in case–control analyses, underscoring the importance of assessing methodological quality when interpreting HRV findings. Conclusion: Combined findings confirm substantial reductions in HRV across psychiatric disorders, and these effects remained significant even in medication-free individuals. Reductions in HRV may therefore represent a significant mechanism contributing to elevated cardiovascular risk in individuals with psychiatric disorders. The negative impact of specific medications on HRV suggest increased risk for cardiovascular disease in these groups, highlighting a need for treatment providers to consider modifiable cardiovascular risk factors to attenuate this risk.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1503/jpn.140217

Cites

256 of 256 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 257 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [43]43. Shadish WR, Haddock CK. Combining estimates of effect size. In: Cooper H, Hedges LV, eds. The handbook of research synthesis. New York: Sage; 1994:261-84.
  2. [170]170. Mujica-Parodi LR, Yeragani V, Malaspina D. Nonlinear complex- ity and spectral analyses of heart rate variability in medicated and unmedicated patients with schizophrenia. Neuropsychobiology 2005; 51:10-5.
  3. [241]241. Tulen JHM, Bruijn JA, De Man KJ, et al. Cardiovascular variability in major depressive-disorder and effects of imipramine or mirtazapine (Org 3770). J Clin Psychopharmacol 1996;16:135-45.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Alvares, G. A., Quintana, D. S., Hickie, I. B., & Guastella, A. J.
Affiliations
Oslo University Hospital (NO)
Venue
Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
Published
2016-03
Volume
41
Issue
2
Pages
89-104
ISSN
  • 1180-4882 (ISSN-L)
  • 1488-2434
OpenAlex
W2419517449
Cited by
503
References
257
Citations by year
2026: 43 · 2025: 62 · 2024: 53 · 2023: 66 · 2022: 53 · 2021: 61 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 2
FWCI
6.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Health and Mental Health
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research
Keywords
autonomic dysfunction, heart rate variability, mental illness, psychotropic drugs, cardiovascular risk, antidepressants, antipsychotic drugs, psychosis, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders
MeSH terms
Autonomic Nervous System Diseases, Mental Disorders, Humans, Psychotropic Drugs

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review