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There is strong evidence for a bi-directional relationship between heart-health and depression in later life, but the physiological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Heart rate variability is one promising factor that might help explain this relationship. We present results of a meta-analysis that considers heart rate variability alterations in older adults with depression.

Literature search of Embase, PsychInfo and Medline revealed five clinical studies and six observational studies that examined the relationship between heart rate variability and depression in adults with a mean age over 60. These studies were included in this meta-analysis.

Heart rate variability was reduced among older adults with clinical depression (N = 550), relative to healthy controls (Hedges’ g = −0.334, 95%CI [−0.579, −0.090], p = .007). When high-frequency and low-frequency heart rate …