Association of positive well-being with reduced cardiac repolarization abnormalities in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms by which psychological factors may influence possibly arrhythmia risk are not known. We hypothesized that psychological wellness, measured by the General Well-Being Schedule (GBWS), is associated with less repolarization heterogeneity as measured by T-axis. We also explored whether T-axis was a mediator in the relationship of GWBS with adverse cardiac outcomes. METHODS: We studied 5,533 adults aged 25–74 years without a history of CVD from NHANES I (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) (1971–75). Frontal T-axis was obtained through 12-lead ECG and characterized as normal (15° to 75°), borderline (−15° to 15° or 75° to 105°) or abnormal (> 105° or < −15°). RESULTS: The mean ± SD age was 43.1 ± 11.5 years and 55% were women. A 1-SD increase in GWBS score associated with a 23% reduced odds of abnormal T-axis (p