Relative influence of age, resting heart rate and sedentary life style in short-term analysis of heart rate variability

Abstract

In order to assess the relative influence of age, resting heart rate (HR) and sedentary life style, heart rate variability (HRV) was studied in two different groups. The young group (YG) consisted of 9 sedentary subjects aged 15 to 20 years (YG-S) and of 9 nonsedentary volunteers (YG-NS) also aged 15 to 20. The elderly sedentary group (ESG) consisted of 16 sedentary subjects aged 39 to 82 years. HRV was assessed using a short-term procedure (5 min). R-R variability was calculated in the time-domain by means of the root mean square successive differences. Frequency-domain HRV was evaluated by power spectrum analysis considering high frequency and low frequency bands. In the YG the effort tolerance was ranked in a bicycle stress test. HR was similar for both groups while ESG showed a reduced HRV compared with YG. Within each group, HRV displayed a negative correlation with HR. Although YG-NS had better effort tolerance than YG-S, their HR and HRV were not significantly different. We conclude that HRV is reduced with increasing HR or age, regardless of life style. The results obtained in our short-term study agree with others of longer duration by showing that age and HR are the main determinants of HRV. Our results do not support the idea that changes in HRV are related to regular physical activity.

Efeitos da idade e da aptidão aeróbica na recuperação da frequência cardíaca em homens adultos

“…This finding was similar to several published studies that evaluated healthy subjects at similar age ranges to the ones in the present work 2,4,6,15,29 . However, better aerobic fitness values were not effective in attenuating the reduction in HRV with age.…”

“…Migliaro et al 29 found similar results to those of the present study, as they did not find significant differences in resting HRV between young sedentary and non-sedentary individuals. Evaluating the effect of a short-duration aerobic training program of mild to moderate intensity on heart rate variability in middle-aged individuals (40-60 years), Smith 15 found no alteration in HRV indices, although he showed improvement in aerobic fitness.…”

Time domain and frequency domain analysis of heart rate variability in elite Nepalese football players

“…The trained individuals in the study of Melanson and Freedson [21] had significantly lower LF compared with their sedentary counterparts. Migliaro et al [22] found no differences in HRV (as determined from spectral analysis: LF and HF) parameters between sedentary (n = 29; 15-24 years) and non-sedentary (n = 29, 15-24 years) young people. The finding of higher HF power and HFnu in our study is supported by several cross-sectional studies [23,24].…”

Normal resting pulse rate ranges

“…[16] Limitations to the present study are that the sample it is based on : [11] a) does not include a comparison group, e.g., unhealthy persons, to see if there was a difference in RPR between healthy and unhealthy persons. However, other studies indicate that persons at greater risk of an adverse clinical outcome do indeed tend to have different (higher) RPRs compared to their healthier counterparts; [4][5][6] b) applies to RPR that is obtained with the methodology used in the reference data (e.g., RPR in the seated position preceded by 4 minutes of seated rest); and c) is from the U.S. On this latter limitation, the author is not aware of substantive differences that might exist between same races from different countries. Thus, the results may be generalize-able to same races in other countries.…”

“…[4][5][6] A variety of health care providers use RPR including nurses, physicians, and chiropractors. Among the reasons nurses obtain RPR data are: a) to document the patient's pulse at admission for baseline, and b) to monitor any changes in RPR that may occur.…”