The Impact of Positive and Negative Affect on QT Dispersion in Healthy Young Adult Men

Abstract

ABS TRACT: The impact of positive and negative affect on QT dispersion in healthy young adult men Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine whether QT dispersion known to be associated with development of coronary artery disease is related with positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) in healthy young adult men. Method: Two hundred and forty-four healthy males aged between 21-30 years were included in this study. Standard electrocardiographic (12 derivation and 50 mm/sec) and echocardiographic evaluations were performed. The duration of QT dispersion was measured digitally. Patients with sinus bradycardia, sinus tachycardia, bundle branch block, preexcitation and electrolyte imbalances were excluded. PA and NA scores of the subjects were determined by the Positive and Negative Affect Scale and clustered into “high” and “low” affect subtypes. Results: QT dispersion was significantly increased in subjects with high NA compared with those with low NA. There was no difference between the subjects having high PA and low PA. QT dispersion correlated positively with NA but not with PA. Conclusion: The results of this study have shown that there may be a relation between QT dispersion and NA in healthy young adult men.