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Background: Tobacco chewing leads to dysfunction of autonomic nervous system has rarely been studied. Objective: Evaluation of heart rate variability (HRV) in tobacco chewers for assessing autonomic functions. Material and Methods: 30 male tobacco chewer subjects (age group 25-30 years) along with 30 aged and BMI matched male healthy controls were evaluated for Time domain parameters SDNN (ms); RMSSD (ms); pNN50 (%) and Frequency domain HRV parameters: LF (ms 2 ); HF (ms 2 ); LF n.u. (%); HF n.u. (%) and LF/HF ratio. Level of significance derived using unpaired students "t"-test. Results: The mean HF n.u. (%) was found to be lower whereas mean LF (ms 2 ), LF n.u. (%) and LF/HF ratio were found higher in tobacco chewers as compared to control group. (p value˂0.001) Conclusion: Decreased Heart rate variability indicates deranged cardiovascular autonomic functions in tobacco chewer subjects.

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