Heart rate variability indices such as SDRR, rMSSDRR, and pNN50 show abrupt changes at around 12 years of age, above which they exhibit gender dependence affecting short-time scales.
Observational (n=700)
How do age and gender affect heart rate variability in healthy subjects?
Heart rate variability parameters exhibit distinct age- and gender-dependent patterns, with significant changes occurring around 1 year and 12 years of age, which should be considered when interpreting HRV measurements.
In this work we study the characteristics of heart rate variability (HRV) as a function of age and gender. Our analysis covers a wider age range than that studied so far. It includes results previously reported in the literature and reveals behaviours not reported before. We can establish basic scale relationships in different HRV measurements. The mean value of the RR intervals shows a power-law behaviour independent of gender. Magnitudes such as the standard deviation or pNN50 show abrupt changes at around the age of 12 years, and above that age they show gender dependence, which mainly affects short-time (or high frequency) scales. We present a unified analysis for the calculation of the non-linear α and β parameters. Both parameters depend on age; they increase in the extremes of life and reach a minimum at around one year of age. These gender-independent changes occur at low frequencies and in scale ranges that depend on age. The results obtained in this work are discussed in terms of the effects of basal metabolic rate, hormonal regulation, and neuronal activity on heart rate variability. This work finally discusses how these findings influence the interpretation of HRV measurements from records of different lengths.
Garavaglia et al. (Fri,) conducted a observational in Healthy subjects (n=700). Age and gender (Observational) was evaluated on Heart rate variability (HRV) indices (<RR>, SDRR, rMSSDRR, pNN50, α, β). Heart rate variability indices such as SDRR, rMSSDRR, and pNN50 show abrupt changes at around 12 years of age, above which they exhibit gender dependence affecting short-time scales.