Several studies investigated the human heart rate (HR)-QT interval relationship using different formulae,
but in clinical use the necessity of a simple means of correction is apparent. We assessed the resting supine
HR-QT relation in health nonhospitalized subjects (age range 20-60 years, 494 men and 536 women) undergoing
noninvasive diagnostic examination, and patients with a history or evidence of heart disease were excluded. The
electrocardiographic data were recorded and calculated by a Marquette computer-assisted system (QT as mean of all
standard leads). A linear relationship was found between the HR and QT interval in males and females, as follows:
males (n = 494), QT - 524 ms, 2.05 HR, r = -0.85; females (n = 536), QT = 515 ms, 1.88 HR, r = -0.80. The
correlation coefficients are highly significant in both cases (p < 0.001). The use of curvilinear regression formulae
permits quite similar correlation coefficients.
The present results show that over the resting range of HR, in subjects without heart disease, a linear relationship
exists between HR and QT interval and a rate-corrected ‘index’ value can be easily calculated in clinical use.