. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jun 13.

Published in final edited form as: Psychosom Med. 2013 Apr 16;75(4):382–389. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e318290a107

TABLE 2.

Effect of EPA + DHA on HRV^a

HRV	3.4 g/d (High)	0.85 g/d (Low)	Placebo (P)	p
HRV	3.4 g/d (High)	0.85 g/d (Low)	Placebo (P)	Main Effect of Treatment	High versus Low	High versus P	Low versus P
RMSSD, ms	28.9 (2.0)	27.6 (2.0)	26.3 (2.0)	.02	.52	.016	.26
HF-HRV, ms²	346.5 (46.1)	320.0 (48.0)	286.3 (47.2)	.058	.86	.052	.21
HF-HRV, nu	40.0 (2.6)	39.2 (2.7)	39.0 (2.7)	.86	.93	.86	.99
Total power, ms²	1988.0 (153.8)	1791.2 (162.2)	1648.6 (158.3)	.02	.23	.012	.50

EPA = eicosapentaenoic acid; DHA = docosahexaenoic acid; HRV = heart rate variability; RMSSD = square root of the mean squared differences in R-R interval; HF-HRV = high-frequency heart rate variability; nu = normalized unit.

Data (adjusted means [standard error]) and p values were obtained from the mixed-models procedure (n = 25). HRV was averaged across baseline rest, stress tasks, and recovery periods because the task × treatment effects were nonsignificant.