Increasing age was significantly associated with more complex arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, more pauses, and lower maximum heart rate, explaining 47.2% of arrhythmic variability (p<0.001).
Observational (n=310)
No
Does age correlate with specific patterns of arrhythmias and conduction abnormalities in patients undergoing 24-hour ECG-Holter monitoring?
Age is strongly associated with increasing arrhythmic burden, conduction disorders, and prolonged pauses on 24-hour Holter monitoring.
Effect estimate: R² = 0.472
p-value: p=<0.001
Abstract Introduction ECG Holter monitoring allows precise quantification of arrhythmic burden and reliable detection of rhythm disturbances. Objective This study aimed to describe and analyze 24-hour ECG-Holter findings in patients at a tertiary-level Cardiology Clinic, including heart rate metrics, arrhythmias, pauses, conduction abnormalities, ischemic changes, and their associations with age. Methodology A retrospective study from October 2024 to October 2025 included all patients undergoing 24-hour Holter monitoring, with interpretations performed by an experienced cardiologist. Results A total of 310 patients were included (mean age 55.6 ± 17.8 years; 50.6% female). The mean heart rate was 72.8 ± 12.6 bpm (max 124.9 ± 25.3; min 47.8 ± 13.7). Rhythm or conduction abnormalities appeared in 97.7% of patients. Premature ventricular beats (PVBs) and premature atrial beats (PABs) were most common, each exceeding 1300 episodes on average. Patients had an average of 2.05 ± 0.82 arrhythmia types; only 2.2% showed ischemic changes. Pauses occurred in 15.8% (mean ~2.4 s), sinus bradycardia in 9.35%, and conduction abnormalities in ~5%. Age correlated positively with maximum heart rate, PVB burden (including bigeminy, trigeminy, and salvos), significant pauses, pause duration, atrioventricular block (AV block), atrial fibrillation (AF), atrial flutter (AFL), ventricular tachycardia (VT), and total arrhythmias. It correlated negatively with average and minimum heart rate and with sinus tachycardia (ST). Significant variables were included in a linear regression model, which was statistically meaningful (F = 16.379; p 0.001) and explained 47.2% of variance (R² = 0.472). Increasing age was associated with more complex arrhythmias, AF, more pauses, and lower maximum heart rate, while sinus tachycardia was more common in younger patients. Conclusion Holter monitoring proved highly effective in detecting a wide range of rhythm and conduction abnormalities. Age showed strong associations with increasing arrhythmic burden, conduction disorders, and prolonged pauses, alongside declining heart rate measures, whereas sinus tachycardia predominated in younger patients. With a model explaining nearly half of arrhythmic variability, these findings emphasize the relevance of age in interpreting Holter results and support its role in guiding clinical management in tertiary care.For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text. For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text.
Jashari et al. (Mon,) conducted a observational in Arrhythmias and conduction abnormalities (n=310). Age was evaluated on Associations of age with heart rate metrics, arrhythmias, pauses, conduction abnormalities, and ischemic changes (R² = 0.472, p=<0.001). Increasing age was significantly associated with more complex arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, more pauses, and lower maximum heart rate, explaining 47.2% of arrhythmic variability (p<0.001).