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2021 Impact Factor 1.766
5-Year Impact Factor 1.674
Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry 2009;16(2):69-75. Published online: Feb, 1, 2009
Objectives:The detrended fluctuation analysis is one of the nonlinear methods
for the investigation of biological time series. It quantifies the fractal
scaling properties and is known to be useful in the evaluation of long-range
correlations in time series. The heart rate variability(HRV) of obstructive
sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) patients during nighttime was analyzed by detrended
fluctuation analysis to assess its relationship with the severity of the
symptoms.
Methods:Fifty nine untreated male OSAS patients with moderate to severe
symptoms(mean age=45.4±11.7 years, apnea-hypopnea index, AHI≥15) underwent
nocturnal polysomnography. Moderate(AHI=15-30, N=22) and severe(AHI>30, N=37)
OSAS patients were compared for the indices derived from detrended fluctuation
analysis and frequency domain analysis of HRV.
Results:In the detrended fluctuation analysis, the alpha values were 0.75±0.11
and 0.82±0.07 for the severe and the moderate OSAS groups respectively. The
difference was significant(p<.01). The alpha value had negative correlation with
AHI(r=-.425, p=.001). Negative correlation coefficients were also found in the
relationships between the alpha values and very low frequency(VLF)(r=-.425,
p=.001), low frequency(LF)(r=-.633, p=<.001) and the LF/HF ratio(r=-.305,
p=.019) respectively. LF/HF ratio(p=.005) was higher in the severe OSAS group
compared to that of the moderate OSAS group.
Conclusion:In this study, the detrended fluctuation analysis showed the
significant difference between the two OSAS groups classified according to their
severity of symptoms. The scaling exponent showed the negative correlation with
AHI and indicies of frequency domain analysis. This result suggests that
detrended fluctuation analysis can be helpful to estimate the severity of OSAS.
Keywords Detrended fluctuation analysis;Heart rate variability;Obstructive sleep apnea.