Patients with erythrophobia (fear of blushing) show abnormal autonomic regulation in mental stress conditions

Laederach-Hofmann, K; Mussgay, L; Büchel, B; Widler, P; Rüddel, H (2002). Patients with erythrophobia (fear of blushing) show abnormal autonomic regulation in mental stress conditions. Psychosomatic medicine, 64(2), pp. 358-65. Baltimore, Md.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

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OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to analyze the autonomic functions of patients with erythrophobia. METHODS: Forty patients with a diagnosis of erythrophobia (female/male ratio 18/22) without any other organic lesions and 20 healthy volunteers (female/male ratio 10/10) were assessed. Clinical evaluation was performed using a modified version of semistructured interviews. Autonomic testing was performed by means of spectral analysis of heart rate and continuous blood pressure by sparse discrete Fourier transformation at rest and under mental stress. RESULTS: There were no significant difference between the two samples in age, sex distribution, BMI, resting systolic, or diastolic blood pressure, nor was there a difference in autonomic baseline functioning between the 40 patients with erythrophobia and the control subjects. On the other hand, patients with erythrophobia consistently showed higher pulse rates (88 +/- 20 vs. 78 +/- 9 bpm, p <.05), higher total heart rate power values (8.40 +/- 0.63 vs. 8.07 +/- 1.02 p <.05), higher midfrequency spectral values (7.38 +/- 0.66 vs. 7.02 +/- 1.18, p <.01), higher high-frequency spectral values (6.89 +/- 0.86 vs. 6.48 +/- 1.44, p <.05), and lower baroreceptor sensitivity (8.62 +/- 8.16 vs. 11.65 +/- 4.42, p <.005) than the healthy subjects. ANOVA showed a significant group interaction (p <.0001) between the samples. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for abnormal autonomic functioning in patients with erythrophobia when under mental stress.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Endocrinology (DFKE) > Clinic of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Clinical Nutrition

UniBE Contributor:

Laederach, Kurt

ISSN:

0033-3174

ISBN:

11914454

Publisher:

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Language:

English

Submitter:

Factscience Import

Date Deposited:

04 Oct 2013 15:01

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:19

PubMed ID:

11914454

Web of Science ID:

000174551600022

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/26706 (FactScience: 86978)

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