The effectiveness of spectral analysis of heart rate variability in the diagnosis of autonomic disorders contributing to the development of chronic heart failure in workers of basic professions in the coal industry

Introduction. The problem of the high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and related complications, leading to a decrease in working capacity and disability in working currently remains urgent. A wide variety of etiological factors are known to influence the development of chronic heart failure, one of which is a change in the autonomic regulation of the heart, and therefore the analysis of heart rate variability has proven to be an informative method for assessing the risk of developing cardiovascular complications.

The study aims to evaluate changes in heart rate variability among workers in the main professions of the coal industry with signs of diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle.

Materials and methods. 87 employees of the main professions of the coal industry participated in the study. Ultrasound examination of the heart was performed according to generally accepted methods on a Vivid E9 ultrasound scanner. The researchers conducted an analysis of heart rate variability with the allocation of spectral and nonlinear indicators at rest and during psychoemotional stress.

Results. All the examined patients had a normal geometry and a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. During the examination, the authors revealed diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle in 44% of the surveyed miners in the absence of cardiovascular diseases. In miners with diastolic dysfunction, a decrease in the spectral index of high frequency was revealed, reflecting the influence of the parasympathetic division of the autonomic system. Correlation analysis confirmed the association of parasympathetic tone with myocardial relaxation in diastole. In all the surveyed miners, the authors found an increased sympathetic effect on the cardiovascular system and a decrease in adaptive capacity to stress.

Limitations. This study is limited to a sample of workers in the main professions of the coal industry without cardiovascular diseases.

Conclusion. Sympathetic activation and a decrease in parasympathetic effect on the heart, leading to dysfunction of myocardial microcirculation, changes in metabolism and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes, contribute to the formation of diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle in workers of the main professions of the coal industry.

Ethics. The study was conducted in compliance with the standards of the Bioethical Committee of the Research Institute for Complex Problems of Hygiene and Occupational Diseases (Minutes of meeting No. 3, § 1 dated November 17, 2022), developed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association (ed. 2013). The subjects signed an informed consent to participate in the study.

Contributions:
Martynov I.D. — data collection and processing, writing the text;
Korotenko O.Yu. — research concept and design, data collection and processing, literary data collection, text writing;
Filimonov E.S. — data collection and processing, editing.

Funding. The study had no funding.

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

Received: 06.11.2025 / Accepted: 03.12.2025 / Published: 20.12.2025

1. Healthcare in Russia. 2023: Statistical yearbook. Moscow: Rosstat; 2023. Available from: https://rosstat.gov.ru/folder/210/document/13218 (in Russian).

2. Shastin A.S., Gazimova V.G., Tsepilova T.M., Malykh O.L., Panov V.G. Circulatory disease rates in the working-age population of the Russian Federation in 2015-2019: Regional features. Profilakticheskaya meditsina. 2022; 25(11): 28–35. https://doi.org/10.17116/profmed20222511128 https://elibrary.ru/vhbdyj (in Russian).

3. Korotenko O.Yu, Filimonov E.S., Martynov I.D. Risk factors for heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction in coal industry workers. Meditsina truda i promyshlennaya ekologiya. 2023; 63(9): 611–6. https://doi.org/10.31089/1026-9428-2023-63-9-611-616 https://elibrary.ru/lwgyrk (in Russian).

4. Arshi B., Geurts S., Tilly M.J., van den Berg M., Kors J.A., Rizopoulos D., et al. Heart rate variability is associated with left ventricular systolic, diastolic function and incident heart failure in the general population. BMC Med. 2022; 20(1): 91. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-022-02273-9

5. Baig M., Moafi-Madani M., Qureshi R., Roberts M.B., Allison M., Manson J.E., et al. Heart rate variability and the risk of heart failure and its subtypes in post-menopausal women: The Women’s Health Initiative study. PLoS One. 2022; 17(10): e0276585. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276585

6. Aronson D., Mittleman M.A., Burger A.J. Role of endothelin in modulation of heart rate variability in patients with decompensated heart failure. Pacing Clin. Electrophysiol. 2001; 24(11): 1607–15. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1460-9592.2001.01607.x

7. Yamshchikova A.V., Fleishman A.N., Martynov I.D. Evaluation of autonomic disorders in miners with vibration disease. Gigiena i sanitariya. 2023; 102(7): 664–9. https://doi.org/10.47470/0016-9900-2023-102-7-664-669 https://elibrary.ru/qczrmo (in Russian).

8. Bilge A., Jobin E., Jerard J., et al. Circadian variation of autonomic tone assessed by heart rate variability analysis in healthy subjects and in patients with chronic heart failure. Eur. Heart J. 1998; 19(Suppl): 369.

9. Kopeva K.V., Mochula A.V., Maltseva A.N., Grakova E.V., Shipulin V.V., Gusakova A.M., et al. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: the role of microvascular dysfunction. Byulleten' sibirskoy meditsiny. 2022; 21(4): 88–97. https://doi.org/10.20538/1682-0363-2022-4-88-97 https://elibrary.ru/crnnmf (in Russian).

10. Chazov E.I., ed. Guidelines on Cardiology in Four Volumes. Volume 1: Physiology and Pathophysiology of the Cardiovascular System. Moscow: Praktika; 2014 (in Russian).

11. Alieva A.M., Golukhova E.Z., Pinchuk T.V. Heart rate variability in chronic heart failure (literature review). Arkhiv vnutrenney meditsiny. 2013; (6): 47–52. https://elibrary.ru/rvliwf (in Russian).

12. Rodríguez-Capitán J., Sánchez-Pérez A., Ballesteros-Pradas S., et al. Prognostic Implication of Non-Obstructive Coronary Lesions: A New Classification in Different Settings. J. Clin. Med. 2021; 10(9): 1863. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10091863

13. Jian A., Todd C., Kaye D., Nanayakkara S. Association between heart rate variability and echocardiographic parameters in heart failure with reduced and preserved ejection fraction. Heart Lung Circ. 2019; 28(S4): S161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlc.2019.06.065