Abstract
Aim: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is associated with changes in cardiac autonomic control, that can be evaluated by heart rate variability (HRV), for which the electrocardiogram (ECG) is the gold standard. However, the use of ECG is limited to laboratory environments, and new tools are needed for this purpose and that can be applied in the routine monitoring of individuals with SCI. The present study aimed to investigate the validity of the Polar V800 heart rate monitor in assessing the cardiac autonomic control of individuals with SCI. Methods: Nineteen adult men with SCI (paraplegia n = 10; 44.5 ± 8.5 years and tetraplegia n = 9; 34.4 ± 7.5 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. The participants remained in the sitting position at rest for 10 min for the acquisition of the ECG and Polar V800 signals. The last 5-min window was used to count the beat-by-beat R-R interval series and then calculate the HRV indices (linear methods in the time and frequency domains). The study subgroups were compared, and the validity of the measurements generated with a heart rate monitor was determined using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1) and Bland-Altman graphs. Results: Agreement analyses for the R-R intervals, SDNN, rMSSD, PNN50, SD1, LF, HF, and LF: HF ratio tended to show reliability ranging from acceptable to excellent (ICC = 0.579-0.990; P = 0.043-0.001) and acceptably narrow limits of agreement within both the group with tetraplegia and the group with paraplegia. Conclusion: The Polar V800 heart rate monitor is a valid instrument for assessing HRV in individuals with paraplegia and tetraplegia.
Highlights
Spinal cord injury (SCI) in the upper segments is associated with changes in the functioning of the autonomic nervous system, in particular markedly reduced sympathetic activity[1,2,3,4,5,6]
The injury level of the participants was between T1-L2 in the group with paraplegia and C4-C7 in the group with tetraplegia
This study aimed to investigate the validity of the Polar V800 heart rate monitor as an instrument for evaluating cardiac autonomic control in individuals with SCI
Summary
Spinal cord injury (SCI) in the upper segments (i.e. the cervical level and first thoracic vertebrae) is associated with changes in the functioning of the autonomic nervous system, in particular markedly reduced sympathetic activity[1,2,3,4,5,6]. Changes in cardiac autonomic control can be investigated by analysing heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is a non-invasive, easy-to-apply method that reflects beat-tobeat changes in heart rate (HR) and shows the influence of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system on heart rhythm and can be used as a diagnostic indicator in individuals with SCI13-16. Several studies have demonstrated the validity of using the instruments such as Polar's heart rate monitors for the evaluation of cardiac autonomic control in healthy populations[21,22,23,24,25,26], as well as in specific populations, such as adolescents with obesity[27] and children[28]
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