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Table 5 Comparison of heart rate, heart rate variability and skin conductance level parameters during the mental stress test between controls and migraine patients

From: Responsiveness of the autonomic nervous system during paced breathing and mental stress in migraine patients

Parameter

Phase

Migraine (n = 22) Mean ± SD

Control (n =25) Mean ± SD

Main effect of block

Main effect of group

Interaction

VC [%]

Baseline

8.35 ± 3.99

8.80 ± 3.59

F [3,43] = 3.9 p  = 0.015

F [1] = 0.5 p = 0.49

F [3,43] = 1.1 p = 0.37

Anticipation

8.53 ± 3.41

10.20 ± 3.84

Stress

9.41 ± 6.13

9.44 ± 3.98

Recovery

9.50 ± 4.16

10.36 ± 5.78

RMSSD [ms]

Baseline

77.03 ± 56.39

87.01 ± 49.41

F [3,43] = 3.7 p  = 0.019

F [1] = 0.3 p = 0.57

F [3,43] = 0.8 p = 0.52

Anticipation

58.77 ± 39.45

72.35 ± 47.23

Stress

65.31 ± 68.44

58.76 ± 34.66

Recovery

76.16 ± 49.86

87.65 ± 59.97

VLF power [ms2]

Baseline

58 ± 85

62 ± 69

F [3,43] = 3.8 p  = 0.017

F [1] = 0.3 p = 0.61

F [3,43] = 1.1 p = 0.35

Anticipation

24 ± 27

44 ± 44

Stress

33 ± 34

35 ± 39

Recovery

65 ± 88

68 ± 63

LF power [ms2]

Baseline

3496 ± 4722

3126 ± 3192

F [3,43] = 3.5 p  = 0.023

F [1] = 0.04 p = 0.84

F [3,43] = 1.5 p = 0.22

Anticipation

1802 ± 1978

2889 ± 2512

Stress

2239 ± 2172

2293 ± 2001

Recovery

3865 ± 4813

3720 ± 3062

HF power [ms2]

Baseline

2241 ± 2611

3645 ± 4606

F [3,43] = 4.8 p  = 0.006

F [1] = 1.6 p = 0.21

F [3,43] = 1.6 p = 0.21

Anticipation

1021 ± 1049

1595 ± 1663

Stress

981 ± 976

1632 ± 2213

Recovery

2397 ± 2774

3133 ± 4121

LF/HF [Hz]

Baseline

1.74 ± 1.18

1.73 ± 1.93

F [3,43] = 3.2 p  = 0.033

F [1] = 0.2 p = 0.65

F [3,43] = 1.2 p = 0.34

Anticipation

2.55 ± 1.80

2.64 ± 1.77

Stress

2.91 ± 1.97

2.10 ± 1.19

Recovery

2.04 ± 1.41

2.12 ± 1.77

HR [bpm]

Baseline

67.83 ± 11.51

62.10 ± 8.48

F [3,43] = 58.9 p  < 0.001

F [1] = 2.2 p = 0.15

F [3,43] = 1.3 p = 0.30

Anticipation

74.23 ± 10.30

70.31 ± 9.94

Stress

76.86 ± 9.83

73.72 ± 10.00

Recovery

67.36 ± 6.88

64.93 ± 8.05

SCR [μS]

Anticipation

2.72 ± 2.53

2.38 ± 2.50

F [3,43] = 32.5 p  < 0.001

F [1] = 0.2 p = 0.70

F [3,43] = 0.2 p = 0.91

Stress

5.43 ± 3.72

4.98 ± 3.28

Recovery

2.40 ± 1.83

2.38 ± 1.87

  1. Values are mean ± SD. VC Coefficient of variation in percent (SD/RR*100), RMSSD: root mean square of successive differences = root mean square of the sum of squares of differences between adjacent RR (normalized R-to-R) intervals, VLF power in the very low frequency band (0.0033–0.04Hz), LF: power in the low frequency band (0.04-0.15Hz), HF: power in the high frequency band (0.15–0.4Hz), LF/HF ratio of LF to HF, HR: heart rate, SCR: average skin conductance response in each phase. Results of ANOVA and unpaired t-tests are given. Significant effects are marked in bold. There were no significant group differences