CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Resting heart rate, heart rate variability and functional decline in old age.
Heart rate and heart rate variability, markers of cardiac autonomic function, have been linked with cardiovascular disease. We investigated whether heart rate and heart rate variability are associated with functional status in older adults, independent of cardiovascular disease. ⋯ Higher resting heart rate and lower heart rate variability were associated with worse functional status and with higher risk of future functional decline in older adults, independent of cardiovascular disease. This study provides insight into the role of cardiac autonomic function in the development of functional decline.
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Comparative Study
Outcomes of deliveries by family physicians or obstetricians: a population-based cohort study using an instrumental variable.
Previous research has suggested that obstetric outcomes are similar for deliveries by family physicians and obstetricians, but many of these studies were small, and none of them adjusted for unmeasured selection bias. We compared obstetric outcomes between these provider types using an econometric method designed to adjust for unobserved confounding. ⋯ After adjusting for both observed and unobserved confounders, we found a similar risk of perinatal mortality and adverse maternal outcome for obstetric deliveries by family physicians and obstetricians. Whether there are differences between these groups for other outcomes remains to be seen.