Key result
HRV metrics show variable day-to-day reliability and decline with age in healthy active adults.
Why the study?
The study was conducted to investigate the inter-day reliability of time-domain, frequency-domain, and nonlinear HRV metrics, and to assess the effect of age on these metrics in healthy highly active younger and older adults.
Observational (n=66)
No
Heart rate variability metrics are reproducible between days in healthy highly active younger and older adults, and there is a significant decline in linear and nonlinear HRV metrics with age.
Variable day-to-day HRV reliability warrants monitoring caution in active adults; cross-sectional age declines leave causal effects open for longitudinal study.
Purpose To investigate the inter-day reliability of time-domain, frequency-domain, and nonlinear HRV metrics in healthy highly active younger and older adults. The study also assessed the effect of age on the HRV metrics. Methods Forty-four older adults (34 M, 10F; 59 ± 5 years; V̇O_2peak V ˙ O 2peak = 40.9 ± 7.6 ml kg −1 min −1 ) and twenty-two younger adults (16 M, 6F; 22 ± 4 years; V̇O_2peak V ˙ O 2peak = 47.2 ± 12.8 ml kg −1 min −1 ) attended the laboratory. Visit one assessed aerobic fitness through an exercise test. In visits two and three, participants completed a 30-min supine RR interval measurement to derive the HRV metrics. Results The younger group (YG) and older group (OG) demonstrated poor to good day-to-day relative and absolute reliability for all HRV metrics (OG, ICCs = 0.33 to 0.69 and between day CVs = 3.8 to 29.2%; YG, ICCs = 0.37 to 0.93 and between day CVs = 3.5 to 36.5%). There was a significant reduction in ApEn ( P < 0.001), SampEn ( P = 0.031), RMSSD ( P < 0.001), SDNN ( P < 0.001), LF power ( P < 0.001) and HF power ( P < 0.001), HRV metrics with ageing. There was no significant effect of age the complexity metrics DFA α1 ( P = 0.107), α2 ( P = 0.147) and CI-8 ( P = 0.493). Conclusion HRV metrics are reproducible between days in both healthy highly active younger and older adults. There is a decline in linear and nonlinear HRV metrics with age, albeit there being no age-related change in the nonlinear metrics, DFA α1, α2 and CI-8.
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Fennell et al. (2023) conducted an observational in Healthy highly active adults (n=66). Inter-day reliability assessment was evaluated on Inter-day reliability of HRV metrics (Intraclass correlation coefficients). Heart rate variability metrics demonstrated poor to good day-to-day reliability (ICCs 0.33-0.93) in healthy highly active adults, while linear and nonlinear HRV metrics significantly declined with age.
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