Table 3

Effect Sizes for all measures in all studies examined.
First Author (reference)
 N
 Design
 Recording Time
 Drug
 Treatment Period (Weeks)
 *CB
 Effect Size (Cohen's d)







HR
 SDNN
 SDANN
 RMSSD
 LF
 ln HF
 HF
 LF/HF
 CV
 pNN50

TCAs Short time recording











Rechlin[55]
 24
 pre post
 5 min
 amitriptyline
 2
 Y
 4.43
 -1.61
-2.97

-0.87
-9.44
Rechlin [56]
 24
 pre post
 5 min
 amitriptyline
 2
 Y
 5.52
 -2.59
-2.93

-1.19
-8.85
Rechlin [57]
 104
 drug vs control
 5 min
 amitriptyline
 1
 Y
 1.60
 -1.53
-1.87

-0.54
-4.76
Rechlin [58]
 26
 drug vs control
 5 min
 amitriptyline
 2
 Y
 3.81
 -2.55
-3.58

-1.25
-3.97
Rechlin [59]
 8
 pre post
 5 min
 amitriptyline
 2
 Y
 6.11
 -1.88
-3.66



-10.86
Rechlin [59]
 8
 pre post
 5 min
 doxepin
 2
 Y
 7.87
 -3.51
-5.04



-21.44
Tulen[9]
 9
 pre post
 8 min
 imipramine
 4
 Y
 4.81
 -2.44


-6.43

-3.97
Volkers[60]
 24
 pre post
 5 min
 imipramine
 4
 Y
 4.52
 -3.32


-2.64

-5.52

TCAs Long time recording











Khaykin[51]
 9
 pre post
 24 h
 doxepin
 6
 N
1.80
 3.64
 -2.71




-3.34
Lederbogen[50]
 14
 pre post
 24 h
 amitriptyline
 5
 N
 1.98
 -2.20
 -3.01







SSRIs Short time recording











Rechlin [56]
 24
 pre post
 5 min
 paroxetine
 2
 Y
 -0.45
 0.05
-0.61

-0.30
-0.09
Rechlin [59]
 8
 pre post
 5 min
 fluvoxamine
 2
 Y
 -0.83
 0.03
1.47



-0.42
Rechlin [59]
 8
 pre post
 5 min
 paroxetine
 2
 Y
 -0.77
 0.09
-0.39



-0.27
Straneva-Meuse[61]
 17
 vs control
 2 min
 paroxetine
 8
 N


-1.99





Volkers[60]
 17
 pre post
 5 min
 fluvoxamine
 4
 Y
 -0.47



-0.15




SSRIs Long time recording











Khaykin[51]
 5
 pre post
 24 h
 fluoxetine
 6
 N
2.24
 2.81
 1.76




1.76
Lederbogen[50]
 14
 pre post
 24 h
 paroxetine
 5
 N
 -0.10
 -1.21
 -1.95







Other Treatments











Agelink[62]
 25
 pre-post
 5 min
 reboxetine
 3
 Y
 1.32

-0.04
 -0.38
0.79


Agelink[63]
 25
 pre-post
 5 min
 nefazodone
 3
 Y
 -1.60
 0.08
0.11
 -0.08
-0.20
 -0.16
 -0.21
Straneva-Meuse[61]
 17
 vs control
 2 min
 bupropion
 8
 N


-1.99





Tulen[9]
 8
 pre post
 8 min
 mirtazapine
 4
 Y
 4.81
 -2.44


-1.81

-3.97
Karpyak[52]
 11
 pre post
 24 h
 ECT
 **
 NS
0.51






0.90
Nahshoni[53]
 10
 pre-post
 NS
 ECT
 ***
 NS



-0.88
0.84


HR = heart rate.

CV = coefficient of variability.

NS = Not Stated.

*CB = Controlled Breathing;.

**ECT performed 3 times per week to a maximum of 10 treatments.

***ECT performed 2 times per week to a maximum of 12 treatments.

van Zyl et al. BioPsychoSocial Medicine 2008 2:12   doi:10.1186/1751-0759-2-12
Open Data