Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 16, 2024; 12(29): 6275-6284
Published online Oct 16, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i29.6275
Quran memorisation and heart rate variability: How do they correlate?
Ahmad Rohi Ghazali, Nor Malia Abd Warif, Noor Anisah A Yazit, Norsham Juliana, Ismarulyusda Ishak, Farah Wahida Ibrahim, Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin, Dzalani Harun, Santibuana Abd Rahman, Wan Nor Atikah Che Wan Mohd Rozali
Ahmad Rohi Ghazali, Nor Malia Abd Warif, Noor Anisah A Yazit, Ismarulyusda Ishak, Farah Wahida Ibrahim, Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin, Wan Nor Atikah Che Wan Mohd Rozali, Biomedical Science Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
Ahmad Rohi Ghazali, Nor Malia Abd Warif, Ismarulyusda Ishak, Farah Wahida Ibrahim, Wan Nor Atikah Che Wan Mohd Rozali, Center for Toxicology and Health Risk Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
Norsham Juliana, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai 71800, Malaysia
Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin, Center for Healthy Ageing and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
Dzalani Harun, Center for Rehabilitation and Special Needs Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
Dzalani Harun, Occupational Therapy Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
Santibuana Abd Rahman, Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Universiti Kuala Lumpur Royal College of Medicine Perak, Ipoh Perak 30450, Malaysia
Author contributions: Ghazali AR, Abd Warif NM, and A Yazit NA designed this study and drafted the manuscript; A Yazit NA and Abd Rahman S participated in data collection; Ishak I, Ibrahim FW, Mat Ludin AF, and Che Wan Mohd Rozali WNA interpreted the data; Juliana N and Harun D served as the scientific advisor. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by the Research Grant from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, No. GGP-2017-061.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Human Ethics Board of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM PPI/111/8/JEP-2018-319).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data is available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Nor Malia Abd Warif, PhD, Academic Research, Lecturer, Researcher, Center for Toxicology and Health Risk Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia. malia.warif@ukm.edu.my
Received: April 14, 2024
Revised: June 24, 2024
Accepted: July 19, 2024
Published online: October 16, 2024
Processing time: 135 Days and 15.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Heart rate variability (HRV) was shown to be affected by performing religious activities.

AIM

To examine the relationship between the level of Quran (the holy book of Muslims) memorisation and HRV among teenagers.

METHODS

This experimental study included 16 Tahfiz students and 16 non-Tahfiz students (n = 32). The HRV was measured in three tasks: Recalling familiar verses, memorising new verses, and recalling the newly memorised verses of the Quran. HRV analysis was done using these parameters: Standard deviation of N-N (heartbeat peak) interval; low frequency (LF); high frequency (HF) and LF/HF ratio.

RESULTS

There were significant differences between tasks for all parameters (P < 0.05). However, between the groups, only the LF/HF ratio had significant differences, with F = 5.04, P < 0.05. Pearson correlation showed a moderate positive correlation between the number of pages memorised and the LF/HF ratio (r = 0.61, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Quran memorisation increased the HRV and our results suggested that this activity could be developed as an effective sympathovagal modulation training activity.

Keywords: Heart rate variability; Autonomic nervous system; Quran memorisation; Tahfiz student; Heartbeat

Core Tip: The process of Quran memorisation increases the heart rate variability in several ways. The spiritual and meditation practices have been linked to heightened parasympathetic and reduced sympathetic cardiac regulation. It activates both sympathetic and parasympathetic actions with the increase of standard deviation of N-N (heartbeat peak) interval and low frequency values. Heart rate variability is believed to play an important role in diagnosing cardiovascular autonomy disorders in children and adolescents.