Why the study?
Guidelines recommend exertional testing before return-to-duty after military concussion, but no standardized task or objective physiological measure like heart rate variability currently exists.
Are the 6-min step test and 2-min pushup test with Polar H10 reliable for measuring physiological responses compared to gold-standard ECG in healthy participants?
Are the 6-min step test and 2-min pushup test with Polar H10 reliable for measuring physiological responses compared to gold-standard ECG in healthy participants?
The 6-min step test and 2-min pushup test, combined with the Polar H10 monitor, provide a reliable and clinically feasible method to assess physiological responses like HRV.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Supports feasibility of HRV-inclusive exertional tests in healthy adults; leaves open validation for military concussion return-to-duty protocols.
BACKGROUND: Guidelines for clinicians treating military concussion recommend exertional testing before return-to-duty, yet there is currently no standardized task or inclusion of an objective physiological measure like heart rate variability (HRV). METHODOLOGY & RESULTS: We pilot-tested two clinically feasible exertional tasks that include HRV measures and examined reliability of a commercially available heart rate monitor. Testing healthy participants confirmed that the 6-min step test and 2-min pushup test evoked the targeted physiological response, and the Polar H10 was reliable to the gold-standard electrocardiogram. CONCLUSION: Both tasks are brief assessments that can be implemented into primary care setting including the Polar H10 as an affordable way to access HRV. Additional research utilizing these tasks to evaluate concussion recovery can validate standardized exertional tasks for clinical use.
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Prim et al. (2021) studied this question.
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