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Effect Of Postmenopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy On Heart Rate Variability, Diane Todd Pace

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Minimal research has addressed effects of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of cardiovascular autonomic balance and a predictor of cardiac morbidity/mortality. Using an exploratory, pre-test/post-test design to describe HRV in postmenopausal women (PMW) before/after six weeks of HRT, twenty-four Black (n=15) and White (n=9) women, (mean age=55±4 years), were recruited from two primary care clinics (n=20) and one church population (n=4) in a large urban midsouth community. Cardiovascular risk factors for the sample included chronic illnesses of DM (n=8), HRT (n=11), both DM and HRT (n=4), smoking (n=9), non-exercise (n=11), and obesity quantified …