Assessment of psychophysiological self-regulation in cardiac rehabilitation by means of heart rate variability

The relevance of the work is associated with the search for ways to increase the effectiveness of the comprehensive rehabilitation of patients after coronary artery bypass grafting based on the formation of psychophysiological self-regulation skills. Aim. The paper aims to assess the indicators of heart rate variability before and after medical rehabilitation based on psychophysiological training in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting. Materials and methods. 38 patients of the rehabilitation cardiology department (Republican Cardiological Center) who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting were examined, of which 21 were males, 17 were females. The average age of the patients was 62,2 ± 6,5 years. Biofeedback technologies were used to acquire the skills of psychophysiological relaxation in the experimental group (19 subjects). Patients were asked to undergo 10 cardiac control sessions, 15 minutes each for two weeks. At the beginning and at the end of rehabilitation, heart rate variability was monitored. Results. The use of psychophysiological training based on biofeedback at the second inpatient stage of medical rehabilitation made it possible to improve the indicators of heart rate variability in patients of the experimental group compared with the control group. Conclusion. Empirical data on heart rate variability confirmed the feasibility of psychophysiological training with biofeedback at the second inpatient stage of medical rehabilitation after coronary artery bypass grafting.