title: Investigating the associations of self-rated health: heart rate variability is more strongly associated than inflammatory and other frequently used biomarkers in a cross sectional occupational sample.
abstract: The present study aimed to investigate the possible mechanisms linking a single-item measure of global self-rated health (SRH) with morbidity by comparing the association strengths between SRH with markers of autonomic nervous system (ANS) function, inflammation, blood glucose and blood lipids. Cross-sectional comprehensive health-check data of 3947 working adults (age 42±11) was used to calculate logistic regressions, partial correlations and compare correlation strength using Olkins Z. Adjusted logistic regression models showed a negative association between SRH (higher values indicating worse health) and measures of heart rate variability (HRV). Glycemic markers were positively associated with poor SRH. No adjusted association was found with inflammatory markers, BP or lipids. In both unadjusted and adjusted linear models Pearson's correlation strength was significantly higher between SRH with HRV measures compared to SRH with other biomarkers. This is the first study investigating the association of ANS function and SRH. We showed that a global measure of SRH is associated with HRV, and that all measures of ANS function were significantly more strongly associated with SRH than any other biomarker. The current study supports the hypothesis that the extent of brain-body communication, as indexed by HRV, is associated with self-rated health.
authors.affiliation: Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Jarczok
authors.affiliation: Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcus E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Kleber
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Department of Psychology, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.affiliation: Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loerbroks
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Raphael M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Herr
authors.affiliation: Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Benyamini
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University, Department of Psychology, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America; Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Julian F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Thayer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009790:Occupations; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers