Effect of Exam Stress on Heart Rate Variability Parameters in Healthy Students

Abstract

Since exam is characterized by stress-induced autonomic cardiac sensations, such as increased heart rate and palpitations, effects of experimental psycho-social stress on heart rate variability are of interest. Medical student usually study under high stress and its reported that most of medical students are more stressful than their colleagues in the other colleges. The time and frequency domain analysis of HRV were performed to assess the changes in sympathovagal balance in a group of 50 healthy students with normal electrocardiogram (ECG) at rest exposed to exam stress. The heart rate variability was recorded before and after exam. The frequency domain variables were computed using PowerLab® acquisition system: very low frequency (VLF) power, low frequency (LF) power, high frequency (HF) power and LF/HF ratio was determined. There was no significant difference in time and frequency parameters in the period before exam compared of the period after exam. This may suggest that adapted our student to exam than that the other student in another college. Because the medical students have many exams per term, so they adapted to exam and not affected by it. Frequent exams in the system-based curriculum help students to mange exam stress.