Effect of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback on Somatic Symptom Disorder

Somatic symptom disorder presents a problem for both the physician and patient because it puts patients at risk of unnecessary testing and treatment. The main feature of these disorders is a concern with physical symptoms that are attributed to a nonpsychiatric disease. This concern can manifest as one or more somatic symptoms that result in excessive thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to those symptoms and that are distressing or result in significant disruption of daily life. HRV biofeedback (HRVB) is a non-invasive therapeutic modality that has been shown to be effective as an adjunct therapy in various chronic pain disorders with stress as a pathophysiological feature.

Very few studies have investigated the effect of heart rate variability HRV biofeedback (HRVB) training as an adjunct therapy in Somatic Symptom Disorder. Very little information is available on the effect of HRVB on the pain and functional status in Somatic Symptom Disorder. On the other hand, there is a lack of information regarding the objective evaluation of HRVB on the pain status in Somatic Symptom Disorder.

Therefore, the present study is planned to investigate the effect of heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB) on pain status,functional status and baroreceptor sensitivity in Somatic Symptom Disorder patients.