Anthropometric, lifestyle and metabolic determinants of resting heart rate. A population study

AIM: To clarify the determinants of resting heart rate at the population level in a random sample of the Belgian population. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data of 5027 men and 4150 women aged 25-74 years obtained from a Belgian nationwide survey were analysed. In multivariate analysis, blood pressure strongly correlated with heart rate in men (t = 12.4 for systolic; t = 8.8 for diastolic) and women (t = 12.0 for systolic; t = 7.7 for diastolic). Age (t = -3.4 in men; t = -8.1 in women) and height (t = -3.7 in men; t = -3.1 in women) correlated negatively with heart rate. Smoking raised heart rate in men (1-19 cigarettes.day-1, t = 6.1; > or = 20 cigarettes.day-1, t = 10.3) and women (> or = 20 cigarettes.day-1, t = 3.5). Serum phosphorus correlated negatively with heart rate (t = -3.5 in men; t = -8.3 in women). Serum log alkaline phosphatase (t = 6.7 in men; t = 7.2 in women) and serum protein (t = 5.3 in men; t = 4.4 in women) correlated positively with heart rate. CONCLUSION: At the population level, blood pressure, cigarette smoking, serum alkaline phosphatase and serum protein correlate independently, significantly and positively with heart rate, and age, height and serum phosphorus negatively.