Cardiorespiratory indices in assessing the risk of developing hypertension in medical workers who have suffered COVID-19

Introduction. Cardiovascular diseases remain one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world and in the Russian Federation, which makes the problem of prevention and early detection of cardiovascular pathology a priority task of medicine. Despite significant advances in diagnosis and treatment, methods of functional assessment of the state of the body's regulatory systems are becoming particularly relevant, capable of detecting preclinical signs of disorders of the body's adaptive reserves and predicting the likelihood of developing cardiovascular diseases.

The study aims to assess the general state of regulatory systems and the level of functional reserves of the body in medical workers before and after COVID-19 infection in order to identify hidden forms of cardiovascular maladaptation based on the calculation of cardiorespiratory indices.

Materials and methods. The authors conducted a cross-epidemiological study, during which they analyzed the prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases, working conditions and cardiorespiratory indices (Kerdo vegetative index, Myznikov index, Kvaas index, Robinson index, blood circulation efficiency coefficient and type of circulatory self-regulation) among medical workers of the regional clinical hospital before and three years after infection with COVID-19.

Experts analyzed 368 medical records of women aged 30 to 62 years, and formed groups depending on working conditions, qualifications and presence of cardiovascular diseases before COVID-19. A set of informative and significant cardiorespiratory indices in the development of hypertension has been identified, on the basis of which a prognostic model has been developed.

Results. The scientists have developed a regression model to determine the risk of hypertension based on the calculation of cardiorespiratory parameters (Myznikov index, Robinson index, blood circulation efficiency coefficient), taking into account age. If a value equal to or greater than the threshold value of 0.401 is obtained, the healthcare professional has a high risk of developing hypertension within three years. The sensitivity and specificity of the obtained predictive model are 90.5% and 90.6%, respectively.

Limitations. The study is limited by the number of people surveyed (368 people), profession, and follow-up period.

Conclusion. The developed prognostic model can be used in a comprehensive assessment of the risk of hypertension among medical workers who have suffered COVID-19.

Ethics. The study was conducted in accordance with Ethical standards and approved by the local Ethics Committee of the Izmerov Research Institute of Occupational Health in accordance with the established procedure (Protocol No. 8 of 2022). Voluntary informed consent was obtained from each participant included in the study.

Contributions:
Kuzmina L.P. — research concept and design, editing;
Osmanova P.S. — research concept and design, data collection and processing, text writing, editing;
Anokhin N.N. — research concept and design, text writing, editing;
Kislyakova A.A. — research concept and design, text writing, editing.

Funding. The study had no funding.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: 27.11.2025 / Accepted: 08.12.2025 / Published: 20.12.2025

1. Xie Y., Xu E., Bowe B., Al-Aly Z. Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19. Nat. Med. 2022; 28: 583–590. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01689-3

2. Barbarash O.L., Karetnikova V.N., Kashtalap V.V., Zvereva T.N., Kochergina A.M. New coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and cardiovascular disease. Kompleksnye problemy serdechno-sosudistykh zabolevanij. 2020; 9(2): 17–28. https://doi.org/10.17802/2306-1278-2020-9-2-17-28 (in Russian).

3. Al-Aly Z., Xie Y., Bowe B. High-dimensional characterization of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. Nature. 2021; 594: 259–264. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03553-9

4. Blagova O.V., Bryukhanov V.A., Kislova M.B., Yumasheva V.A., Gaeva M.S., Ainetdinova D.Kh. et al. Post-COVID-19 myocardium and coronary involvement in a young patient: differential diagnosis and comprehensive treatment. Kardiovaskulyarnaya terapiya i profilaktika. 2024; 23(3): 3923. https://doi.org/10.15829/1728-8800-2024-3923 (in Russian).

5. Vakhnenko Y.V., Dorovskikh I.E., Domke A.P. Cardiovascular component of post-COVID-19-syndrome. Pacific Medical Journal. 2022; (1): 56–64. https://doi.org/10.34215/1609-1175-2022-1-56-645 (in Russian).

6. Shishkova V.N., Dranitsina B.G. Postcovid cognitive impairment. S.S. Korsakov Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry. 2022; 122(12): 45–49. https://doi.org/10.17116/jnevro202212212145 (in Russian).

7. Strizhakov L.A., Marchenkov R.E., Sholomova V.I., Lebedeva M.V., Brovko M.Yu., Konovalov D.V., Gulyaev S.V. COVID-19 in medical workers: social demographic and clinical features in the examination of the correlation between the disease and an occupation. Russian Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2024; 27(2): 30–36. https://doi.org/10.17116/profmed20242702130 (in Russian).

8. Rusinova D.S., Vasil'eva T.M., Bezymyanny A.S., Starshinin A.V. Analysis of employee's working capacity in Children's City Outpatient's Clinic № 133 of Moscow City Health Department after COVID-19. Pediatricheskaya farmakologiya. 2024; 27(2): 30–36. https://doi.org/10.15690/pf.v18i6.2348 (in Russian).

9. Platonova T.A., Golubkova A.A., Sklyar M.S., Karbovnichaya E.A., Smirnova S.S. On the Issue of Evaluating the Effectiveness of Vaccination of Employees of Medical Organizations against COVID-19. Ehpidemiologiya i Vaktsinoprofilaktika. 2022; 21(1): 61–66. https://doi.org/10.31631/2073-3046-2022-21-1-61-66 (in Russian).

10. Shpagina L.A., Kuzmina L.P., Kotova O.S., Shpagin I.S., Kamneva N.V., Kuznetsova G.V. et al. COVID-19 in healthcare workers (literature review and own data). Russian Journal of Occupational Health and Industrial Ecology [Med. truda i prom. ekol.]. 2021; 61(1): 18–26. https://doi.org/10.31089/1026-9428-2021-61-1-18-26 (in Russian).

11. Rakhmanov R.S., Istomin А.V., Bogomolova E.S., Narutdinov D.A., Razgulin S.A., Kalyuzhny E.A. The indices of the cardiovascular system in workers with different body weights in unfavourable working conditions. Russian journal Hygiene and Sanitation. 2023; 102(2): 148–153. https://doi.org/10.47470/0016-9900-2023-102-2-148-153 (in Russian).

12. Pestryaev M.V., Maximova Z.V. Assessment of autonomic regulation of the cardiovascular system during daily monitoring of blood pressure. Current Issues in Modern Medical Science and Healthcare: Collection of Articles from the VIII International Scientific and Practical Conference of Young Scientists and Students. 2023, Apr. 19–20. Yekaterinburg. 2023. (in Russian).

13. Ivanov S.A., Nevzorova E.V., Gulin A.V. Quantitative evaluation of functional capability of cardio-vascular system. Tambov University Reports. Series: natural and Technical Sciences. 2017; 22(6–2): 1535–40. https://doi.org/10.20310/1810-0198-2017-22-6-1535-1540 (in Russian).

14. Bayevskiy R.M., Kirillov O.I., Kletskin S.Z. Matematicheskiy analiz izmeneniy serdechnogo ritma pri stresse. M.: Nauka. 1984 (in Russian).

15. Mokashevaa E.N., Grebennikovaa I.V., Zemskovaa V.A., Bolotskikh V.I. Rapid Assessment of Cardiovascular System Parameters Using Cardiorespiratory Indices. Uspekhi sovremennoj biologii. 2023; 143(2): 131–137. https://doi.org/10.31857/S0042132423020072 (in Russian).

16. Prokopiev N.Y., Gubin D.G., Durov A.M., Muhametshin A.A., Shevtsov A.V. Adaptation potential by R.M. Baevsky at young people who have swimmed in the ice water. Tyumenskij meditsinskij zhurnal. 2018; 20(4): 25–29 (in Russian).

17. Yusupova N.Z., Lyadova I.V., Khairullina L.R., Frolova O.A. Assessment of the functional state of the organism of public catering workers. Vestnik novykh meditsinskikh tekhnologij. 2023; 2: 7. https://doi.org/10.24412/2075-4094-2023-2-2-4 (in Russian).

18. Elfimova A.E., Tipisova E.V., Molodovskaya I.N., Alikina V.A. Adaptive potential of cardiovascular system and its relationship with sex hormones and dopamine levels in women of Arkhangelsk Oblast and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Kardiovaskulyarnaya terapiya i profilaktika. 2022; 21(1): 2902. https://doi.org/10.15829/1728-8800-2022-2902 (in Russian).

19. Kuzmina L.P., Leskina L.M., Golovkova N.P., Tolmachev D.A., Osmanova P.Sh., Mikhailova N.S. Studying the prevalence of chronic general somatic diseases among medical workers based on a cross-sectional epidemiological study. Russian Journal of Occupational Health and Industrial Ecology [Med. truda i prom. ekol.]. 2024; 64(12): 799–805. https://doi.org/10.31089/1026-9428-2024-64-12-799-805 (in Russian).

20. Glukhov D.V., Yushkova O.I., Kapustina A.V., Forverts A.Yu. Improvement of criteria and methods for assessing the functional state and factors of the labor process based on a personalized approach. Russian Journal of Occupational Health and Industrial Ecology [Med. truda i prom. ekol.]. 2025; 65(4): 246–256. https://doi.org/10.31089/1026-9428-2025-65-4-246-256 (in Russian).

21. Sysoeva L.A., Lyakhova O.L., Mezentseva O.A., Efanov A.M. The type of self-regulation of blood circulation as an indicator of the adaptation of first-year students to university studies. Sovremennye voprosy biomeditsiny. 2025; 9(32): 162-169. https://doi.org/10.24412/2588-0500-2025_09_02_20 (in Russian).