A Pilot Study of the Reliability and Agreement of Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate and Short-Term Heart Rate Variability in Elite Modern Pentathlon Athletes.

Bartosz Hoffmann,Andrew A Flatt,Jakub S Gąsior,Ewelina Dziedzic,Marcel Młyńczak,Bożena Werner,Rafał Baranowski,Luiz Eduardo Virgilio Silva

doi:10.3390/diagnostics10100833

Abstract

Research on reliability of heart rate variability (HRV) parameters in athletes has received increasing attention. The aims of this study were to examine the inter-day reliability of short-term (5 min) and ultra-short-term (1 min) heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RespRate) and HRV parameters, agreement between short-term and ultra-short-term parameters, and association between differences in HR, RespRate and HRV parameters in elite modern pentathletes. Electrocardiographic recordings were performed in stable measurement conditions with a week interval between tests. Relative reliability was evaluated by intra-class correlation coefficients, absolute reliability was evaluated by within-subject coefficient of variation, and agreement was evaluated using Bland–Altman (BA) plot with limits of agreement and defined a priori maximum acceptable difference. Short-term HR, RespRate, log transformed (ln) root mean square of successive normal-to-normal interval differences (lnRMSSD), ln high frequency (lnHF) and SD2/SD1 HRV indices and ultra-short-term HR, RespRate and lnRMSSD presented acceptable, satisfactory inter-day reliability. Although there were no significant differences between short-term and ultra-short-term HR, RespRate and lnRMSSD, no parameter showed acceptable differences with BA plots. Differences in time-domain and non-linear HRV parameters were more correlated with differences in HR than with differences in RespRate. Inverse results were observed for frequency-domain parameters. Short-term HR, RespRate, lnRMSSD, lnHF, and SD2/SD1 and ultra-short-term HR, RespRate and lnRMSSD could be used as reliable parameters in endurance athletes. However, practitioners should interpret changes in HRV parameters with regard to concomitant differences in HR and RespRate and caution should be taken before considering 5 min and 1 min parameters as interchangeable.

Highlights

Comprehensive monitoring of fitness and performance as well as accurate diagnosis of fatigue, non-functional overreaching, and overtraining states are crucial for optimizing training and reducing risk of injury in elite professional sport [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Parameters associated with autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation such as heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), measures assessed during the post-exercise recovery period, have received increasing interest for monitoring training status and cardiovascular fitness [2,4,5,6,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]
There are few studies addressing modern pentathlon athletes [35,36,37,38,39,40,41] and we have found no data within the literature on the reliability of HRV in this population

Summary

Introduction

Comprehensive monitoring of fitness and performance as well as accurate diagnosis of fatigue, non-functional overreaching, and overtraining states are crucial for optimizing training and reducing risk of injury in elite professional sport [1,2,3,4,5,6] In this regard, sensitive, non-invasive, time-efficient and cost-effective testing methods and biomarkers encompassing a multidimensional approach are being sought by coaches, exercise scientists and sports physicians to improve the evaluation of athletes [4,7,8,9]. From the perspective of coaches and sports professionals, it is important to evaluate training status in as many athletes as possible relatively quickly and frequently to distinguish intended (e.g., due to training) from unintended (measurement error) changes using reliable measurements and validated tools This will ensure reproducible results and enable meaningful findings [26,27]. Parameters (or tools) are rated as useful or sensitive based on providing high reliability and low test–retest variation [4]

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Methods

Conclusion