Heart rate variability as a biomarker for anorexia nervosa: A review.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) typically begins in early adolescence and other than weight status has few reliable biomarkers. Early diagnosis is a critical prognostic factor, but this can be clinically challenging. Heart rate variability (HRV), the beat-by-beat variance in heart rate (HR), may provide a unique assessment for the presence of AN because it has clinical utility as a biomarker of cardiac autonomic control in various populations (e.g., athletes, the aged, those with cardiovascular diseases, etc.). We present a review of the literature examining HRV in those with AN.