Reliability of heart rate variability measures at rest and during light exercise in children. Issue 6 (9th December 2003)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Winsley, R J; Armstrong, N; Bywater, K; Fawkner, S G
• Is Part Of: British journal of sports medicine. Volume 37:Issue 6(2003)
• Page Start: 550
• Page End: 552
• Publication Date: 2003-12-09
• Subjects: reliability -- children -- heart rate variability -- exercise; HRV, heart rate variability -- RMSSD, square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of the differences between adjacent R-R intervals -- pNN50, the proportion of pairs of adjacent intervals differing by more than 50 ms -- SDNN, standard deviation of all the R-R intervals -- LF, low frequency power -- HF, high frequency power -- TP, total power -- ICC, intraclass correlation coefficient; Sports medicine -- Periodicals; 617.1027
• DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.37.6.550
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-3674

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: To investigate the reliability of heart rate variability (HRV) measures at rest and during light exercise in children. Methods: Short term (five minute) HRV was assessed in 12 children (11–12 years of age). HRV measures were collected at rest with the children supine, breathing at 12 breaths/min, and during exercise on a cycle ergometer while exercising at 25% of peak oxygen uptake. Both resting and exercise data were collected twice from each child. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients were low to moderate for most measures with wide confidence intervals for each variable in both resting and exercise conditions. Random variation (typical error) within repeated measurements ranged from 31% to 187%. Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that HRV measures are unreliable at rest and during light exercise in children aged 11–12 years. Tighter control of extraneous influences is recommended.