AUTHOR=Krause Elischa , Vollmer Marcus , Wittfeld Katharina , Weihs Antoine , Frenzel Stefan , Dörr Marcus , Kaderali Lars , Felix Stephan B. , Stubbe Beate , Ewert Ralf , Völzke Henry , Grabe Hans J. 

TITLE=Evaluating heart rate variability with 10 second multichannel electrocardiograms in a large population-based sample

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2023.1144191

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2023.1144191

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=Heart rate variability (HRV), defined as the variability of consecutive heart beats, is an important biomarker for dysregulations of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and is associated with the development, course, and outcome of a variety of mental and physical health problems. While guidelines recommend using 5-minute electrocardiograms (ECG), recent studies showed that 10 seconds might be sufficient for deriving vagal-mediated HRV. However, the validity and applicability of this approach for risk prediction in epidemiological studies is currently unclear to be used.

This study evaluates vagal-mediated HRV with ultra-short HRV (usHRV) derived from 10-second multichannel ECG recordings of N=4,396 and N=2,493 participants of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) from two waves of the SHIP-TREND cohort. Associations of usHRV with HRV derived from long-term ECG recordings (polysomnography: 5 minutes before falling asleep [N=1,052]; orthostatic testing: 5 minutes of rest [N=1,794]) as well as their validity with respect to demographic variables and depressive symptoms were investigated.

High correlations (r=.52-.78) were revealed between usHRV and HRV. While controlling for covariates, usHRV was the strongest predictor for HRV. Furthermore, the associations of usHRV and HRV with age, sex, obesity, and depressive symptoms were similar.

This study provides evidence that usHRV derived from 10-second ECG might function as a sufficient proxy of vagal-mediated HRV with similar characteristics. This allows the investigation of ANS dysregulation with ECGs that are routinely performed in clinical settings as well as in epidemiological studies to identify protective and risk factors for various mental and physical health problems.