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

E.R Migliaro,K Vicente,P Contreras,S Bech,R Ricca,M Castro,A Etxagibel

doi:10.1590/s0100-879x2001000400009

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.

Highlights

The analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) is a simple noninvasive technique used to assess the instantaneous beat-to-beat variations in terms of R-R interval length
Influence of age Influence of age was analyzed by comparing the HRV between the elderly group (ESG) and the young group (YG)
The aim of our study was to analyze the relative influence of age, sedentary life style and HR on HRV, measured with a shortterm procedure

Summary

Introduction

The analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) is a simple noninvasive technique used to assess the instantaneous beat-to-beat variations in terms of R-R interval length. HRV is reduced in many pathological conditions. Diabetes [3,4], coronary artery disease [5,6] and heart failure [7,8] are the most extensively studied. In all of these cases, there is a reduction of parasympathetic activity and an increase in sympathetic outflow. The normality concept for HRV is a difficult task; the diagnosis of normal or reduced HRV requires the definition of the conditions prevailing during HRV measurement and even before it [9]

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