Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Self-recorded heart rate variability profiles are associated with health and lifestyle markers in young adults

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Clinical Autonomic Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To quantify associations between self-recorded heart rate variability (HRV) profiles and various health and lifestyle markers in young adults.

Methods

Otherwise healthy volunteers (n = 40, 50% male) recorded 60-s, post-waking HRV with a cost-free mobile application in supine and standing positions for 7 days. The 7-day average and coefficient of variation (CV, reflects daily fluctuation) for the mean RR interval and root mean square of successive differences (LnRMSSD) were assessed. 7-day sleep duration and physical activity profiles were characterized via wrist-worn accelerometer. Subsequent laboratory assessments included aerobic fitness (\({\mathrm{\dot{V}}}\)O2peak) and markers of cardiovascular, metabolic, and psychoemotional health. Associations were evaluated before and after \({\mathrm{\dot{V}}}\)O2peak adjustment.

Results

Bivariate correlations (P < 0.05) demonstrated that higher 7-day averages and/or lower CV values were associated with higher activity levels and superior cardiovascular (lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure [BP] and aortic stiffness [cf-PWV]), metabolic (lower body fat percentage, fasting glucose, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C]), and psychoemotional health (lower perceived stress) markers, with some variation between sexes and recording position. In males, associations between HRV parameters and cf-PWV remained significant following \({\mathrm{\dot{V}}}\)O2peak adjustment (P < 0.05). In females, HRV parameters were associated (P < 0.05) with numerous cardiovascular (systolic and diastolic BP, cf-PWV) and metabolic (fasting glucose and LDL-C) parameters following \({\mathrm{\dot{V}}}\)O2peak adjustment.

Conclusions

Higher or more stable supine and standing HRV were generally associated with superior health and lifestyle markers in males and females. These findings lay groundwork for future investigation into the usefulness of self-recorded ultra-short HRV as a health-promoting behavior-modification tool in young adults.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Boullosa DA, Abreu L, Nakamura FY, Muñoz VE, Domínguez E, Leicht AS (2013) Cardiac autonomic adaptations in elite Spanish soccer players during preseason. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 8:400–409

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Brook RD, Julius S (2000) Autonomic imbalance, hypertension, and cardiovascular risk. Am J Hypertens 13:112S-122S

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Butlin M, Qasem A, Avolio AP (2012) Estimation of central aortic pressure waveform features derived from the brachial cuff volume displacement waveform. In: Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2591–2594

  4. Carey M, Markham C, Gaffney P, Boran C, Maher V (2006) Validation of a point of care lipid analyser using a hospital based reference laboratory. Ir J Med Sci 175:30–35

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Carnethon MR, Liao D, Evans GW, Cascio WE, Chambless LE, Rosamond WD, Heiss G (2002) Does the cardiac autonomic response to postural change predict incident coronary heart disease and mortality? The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Am J Epidemiol 155:48–56

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R (1983) A global measure of perceived stress. J Health Social Behav 24(4):385–396

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Collaboration RVfAS, (2010) Determinants of pulse wave velocity in healthy people and in the presence of cardiovascular risk factors: ‘establishing normal and reference values.’ Eur Heart J 31:2338–2350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. de Sousa TLW, di Paschoale Ostoli TLV, Sperandio EF, Arantes RL, de Toledo Gagliardi AR, Romiti M, da Silva RP, Dourado VZ (2019) Dose-response relationship between very vigorous physical activity and cardiovascular health assessed by heart rate variability in adults: Cross-sectional results from the EPIMOV study. PLoS ONE 14:e0210216

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. de Vries H, Kamphuis W, van der Schans C, Sanderman R, Oldenhuis H (2022) Trends in daily heart rate variability fluctuations are associated with longitudinal changes in stress and somatisation in police officers. Healthcare 10:144

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Fernberg U, Fernström M, Hurtig-Wennlöf A (2017) Arterial stiffness is associated to cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index in young Swedish adults: The Lifestyle, Biomarkers, and Atherosclerosis study. Eur J Prev Cardiol 24:1809–1818

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Flatt A, Esco M (2016) Heart rate variability stabilization in athletes: towards more convenient data acquisition. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging 36:331–336

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Flatt A, Esco M, Nakamura F, Plews D (2017) Interpreting daily heart rate variability changes in collegiate female soccer players. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 57:907–915

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Flatt AA, Allen JR, Keith CM, Martinez MW, Esco MR (2021) Season-long heart-rate variability tracking reveals autonomic imbalance in American college football players. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 16:1834–1843

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Flatt AA, Esco MR (2015) Smartphone-derived heart-rate variability and training load in a women’s soccer team. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 10:994–1000

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Flatt AA, Esco MR (2016) Evaluating individual training adaptation with smartphone-derived heart rate variability in a collegiate female soccer team. J Strength Cond Res 30:378–385

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Flatt AA, Howells D (2019) Effects of varying training load on heart rate variability and running performance among an Olympic rugby sevens team. J Sci Med Sports 22:222–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Gilgen-Ammann R, Schweizer T, Wyss T (2019) RR interval signal quality of a heart rate monitor and an ECG Holter at rest and during exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol 119:1525–1532

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. González-Fimbres RA, Hernández-Cruz G, Flatt AA (2021) Ultrashort Versus Criterion Heart Rate Variability Among International-Level Girls’ Field Hockey Players. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 16:985–992

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Grässler B, Thielmann B, Böckelmann I, Hökelmann A (2021) Effects of different training interventions on heart rate variability and cardiovascular health and risk factors in young and middle-aged adults: A systematic review. Front Physiol 12:657274

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Grove JR, Prapavessis H (1992) Preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of an abbreviated profile of mood states. Int J Sport Psych 23:93–109

    Google Scholar 

  21. Hamer M (2012) Psychosocial stress and cardiovascular disease risk: the role of physical activity. Psychosom Med 74:896–903

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. He X, Zhao M, Bi X, Sun L, Yu X, Zhao M, Zang W (2015) Novel strategies and underlying protective mechanisms of modulation of vagal activity in cardiovascular diseases. Br J Pharmacol 172:5489

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Hirshkowitz M, Whiton K, Albert SM, Alessi C, Bruni O, DonCarlos L, Hazen N, Herman J, Katz ES, Kheirandish-Gozal L (2015) National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health 1:40–43

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Hopkins W, Marshall S, Batterham A, Hanin J (2009) Progressive statistics for studies in sports medicine and exercise science. Med Sci Sports Exerc 41:3–13

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Hynynen E, Konttinen N, Kinnunen U, Kyröläinen H, Rusko H (2011) The incidence of stress symptoms and heart rate variability during sleep and orthostatic test. Eur J Appl Physiol 111:733–741

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Imboden MT, Welch WA, Swartz AM, Montoye AH, Finch HW, Harber MP, Kaminsky LA (2017) Reference standards for body fat measures using GE dual energy x-ray absorptiometry in Caucasian adults. PLoS ONE 12:e0175110

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Jandackova VK, Scholes S, Britton A, Steptoe A (2019) Healthy lifestyle and cardiac vagal modulation over 10 years: Whitehall II Cohort Study. J Am Heart Assoc 8:e012420

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Johansson JK, Niiranen TJ, Puukka PJ, Jula AM (2012) Prognostic value of the variability in home-measured blood pressure and heart rate: the Finn-Home Study. Hypertens 59:212–218

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Kaminsky LA, Imboden MT, Arena R, Myers J (2017) Reference standards for cardiorespiratory fitness measured with cardiopulmonary exercise testing using cycle ergometry: data from the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database (FRIEND) registry. Mayo Clin Proc 92:228–233

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Kang J, Chang Y, Kim Y, Shin H, Ryu S (2022) Ten-second heart rate variability, its changes over time, and the development of hypertension. Hypertens 79:1308–1318

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Kaplan KA, Hirshman J, Hernandez B, Stefanick ML, Hoffman AR, Redline S, Ancoli-Israel S, Stone K, Friedman L, Zeitzer JM (2017) When a gold standard isn’t so golden: Lack of prediction of subjective sleep quality from sleep polysomnography. Biol Psychol 123:37

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Knaier R, Höchsmann C, Infanger D, Hinrichs T, Schmidt-Trucksäss A (2019) Validation of automatic wear-time detection algorithms in a free-living setting of wrist-worn and hip-worn ActiGraph GT3X. BMC Public Health 19:244

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  33. Lee PH, Suen LK (2017) The convergent validity of Actiwatch 2 and ActiGraph Link accelerometers in measuring total sleeping period, wake after sleep onset, and sleep efficiency in free-living condition. Sleep Breath 21:209–215

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Liguori G, Medicine ACoS (2020) ACSM's guidelines for exercise testing and prescription. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

  35. Medeiros AR, Leicht AS, Michael S, Boullosa D (2021) Weekly vagal modulations and their associations with physical fitness and physical activity. Eur J Sport Sci 21:1326–1336

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Min K-B, Min J-Y, Paek D, Cho S-I (2008) The impact of the components of metabolic syndrome on heart rate variability: using the NCEP-ATP III and IDF definitions. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol 31:584–591

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Montoye AH, Clevenger KA, Pfeiffer KA, Nelson MB, Bock JM, Imboden MT, Kaminsky LA (2020) Development of cut-points for determining activity intensity from a wrist-worn ActiGraph accelerometer in free-living adults. J Sports Sci 38:2569–2578

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Nakamura FY, Pereira LA, Rabelo FN, Flatt AA, Esco MR, Bertollo M, Loturco I (2016) Monitoring weekly heart rate variability in futsal players during the preseason: the importance of maintaining high vagal activity. J Sports Sci 34:2262–2268

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Natarajan A, Pantelopoulos A, Emir-Farinas H, Natarajan P (2020) Heart rate variability with photoplethysmography in 8 million individuals: a cross-sectional study. Lancet Digit Health 2:e650–e657

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Nauman J, Stensvold D, Coombes JS, Wisløff U (2016) Cardiorespiratory fitness, sedentary time, and cardiovascular risk factor clustering. Med Sci Sports Exerc 48:625–632

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Nemes A, Takacs R, Gavaller H, Varkonyi TT, Wittmann T, Forster T, Lengyel C (2010) Correlations between aortic stiffness and parasympathetic autonomic function in healthy volunteers. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 88:1166–1171

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Penttilä J, Helminen A, Jartti T, Kuusela T, Huikuri HV, Tulppo MP, Coffeng R, Scheinin H (2001) Time domain, geometrical and frequency domain analysis of cardiac vagal outflow: effects of various respiratory patterns. Clin Physiol 21:365–376

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Pierce GL, Harris SA, Seals DR, Casey DP, Barlow PB, Stauss HM (2016) Estimated aortic stiffness is independently associated with cardiac baroreflex sensitivity in humans: role of ageing and habitual endurance exercise. J Hum Hypertens 30:513–520

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Plaza-Florido A, Amaro-Gahete FJ, Acosta FM, Sacha J, Alcantara JM (2021) Heart rate rather than heart rate variability is better associated with cardiorespiratory fitness in adults. Eur J Sport Sci 22:836–845

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Plews DJ, Laursen PB, Kilding AE, Buchheit M (2012) Heart rate variability in elite triathletes, is variation in variability the key to effective training? A case comparison. Eur J Appl Physiol 112:3729–3741

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Plews DJ, Laursen PB, Kilding AE, Buchheit M (2013) Evaluating training adaptation with heart-rate measures: a methodological comparison. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 8:688–691

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Sandercock GR, Bromley PD, Brodie DA (2005) The reliability of short-term measurements of heart rate variability. Int J Cardiol 103:238–247

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Schaarup J, Christensen MS, Hulman A, Hansen CS, Vistisen D, Tabak AG, Witte DR, Bjerg L (2022) Autonomic dysfunction is associated with the development of arterial stiffness: The Whitehall II cohort. medRxiv DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.24.22271384

  49. Silverman MN, Deuster PA (2014) Biological mechanisms underlying the role of physical fitness in health and resilience. Interface Focus 4:20140040

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  50. Soltani M, Baluchi MJ, Boullosa D, Daraei A, Doyle-Baker PK, Saeidi A, Knechtle B, Dehbaghi KM, Mollabashi SS, VanDusseldorp TA (2021) Effect of intensity on changes in cardiac autonomic control of heart rate and arterial stiffness after equated continuous running training programs. Front Physiol 12:758299

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  51. Tan I, Kiat H, Barin E, Butlin M, Avolio AP (2016) Effects of pacing modality on noninvasive assessment of heart rate dependency of indices of large artery function. J Appl Physiol 121:771–780

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Tonello L, Reichert FF, Oliveira-Silva I, Del Rosso S, Leicht AS, Boullosa DA (2016) Correlates of heart rate measures with incidental physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in overweight female workers. Front Physiol 6:405

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  53. Townsend RR, Black HR, Chirinos JA, Feig PU, Ferdinand KC, Germain M, Rosendorff C, Steigerwalt SP, Stepanek JA (2015) Clinical use of pulse wave analysis: Proceedings from a symposium sponsored by North American Artery. J Clin Hypertens 17:503–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Vlachopoulos C, Aznaouridis K, Stefanadis C (2010) Prediction of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality with arterial stiffness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol 55:1318–1327

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Werner GG, Ford BQ, Mauss IB, Schabus M, Blechert J, Wilhelm FH (2015) High cardiac vagal control is related to better subjective and objective sleep quality. Biol Psychol 106:79

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Wulsin L, Herman J, Thayer JF (2018) Stress, autonomic imbalance, and the prediction of metabolic risk: A model and a proposal for research. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 86:12–20

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Zulfiqar U, Jurivich DA, Gao W, Singer DH (2010) Relation of high heart rate variability to healthy longevity. Am J Cardiol 105:1181–1185

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study was funded by the Georgia Southern University Faculty Research Committee Seed Funding Award.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biodynamics and Human Performance Center, Georgia Southern University (Armstrong Campus), 11935 Abercorn St, 31419, Savannah, Georgia

    Gregory J. Grosicki, Meral N. Culver, Nathan K. McMillan, Brett L. Cross, Bryan L. Riemann & Andrew A. Flatt

  2. Department of Integrative Physiology and Health Science, Alma College, Alma, MI, USA

    Alexander H. K. Montoye

Authors
  1. Gregory J. Grosicki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Meral N. Culver
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nathan K. McMillan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Brett L. Cross
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alexander H. K. Montoye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Bryan L. Riemann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Andrew A. Flatt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization: Andrew A. Flatt, Gregory J. Grosicki; Methodology: Andrew A. Flatt, Gregory J. Grosicki, Alexander H. Montoye; Data Collection: Meral N. Culver, Nathan K. McMillan, Brett L. Cross, Gregory J. Grosicki, Andrew A. Flatt; Writing—original draft preparation: Andrew A. Flatt, Gregory J. Grosicki; Writing—review and editing: Alexander H. Montoye, Bryan L. Riemann, Meral N. Culver; Funding acquisition: Gregory J. Grosicki, Andrew A. Flatt, Bryan L. Riemann; Supervision: Andrew A. Flatt, Gregory J. Grosicki.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew A. Flatt.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Grosicki, G.J., Culver, M.N., McMillan, N.K. et al. Self-recorded heart rate variability profiles are associated with health and lifestyle markers in young adults. Clin Auton Res 32, 507–518 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-022-00884-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-022-00884-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation