The wrist-worn Polar Vantage V2 measured HR and HRV with adequate accuracy compared to a reference sensor, demonstrating a correlation coefficient of 0.993 for pooled intervals (p<0.001).
Observational (n=39)
Does wrist-based photoplethysmography accurately measure resting heart rate and heart rate variability compared to a reference heart rate sensor in recreationally trained athletes?
The wrist-worn Polar Vantage V2 provides highly correlated measurements of resting HR and HRV compared to a reference sensor, though it systematically overestimates HRV, particularly in individuals with low baseline values.
Effect estimate: Correlation coefficient 0.993
p-value: p=<0.001
Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) can be monitored with wearable devices throughout the day. Resting HRV in particular, reflecting cardiac parasympathetic activity, has been proposed to be a useful marker in the monitoring of health and recovery from training. This study examined the validity of the wrist-based photoplethysmography (PPG) method to measure HR and HRV at rest. Recreationally endurance-trained participants recorded pulse-to-pulse (PP) and RR intervals simultaneously with a PPG-based watch and reference heart rate sensor (HRS) at a laboratory in a supine position (n = 39; 5-min recording) and at home during sleep (n = 29; 4-h recording). In addition, analyses were performed from pooled laboratory data (n = 11344 PP and RR intervals). Differences and correlations were analyzed between the HRS- and PPG-derived HR and LnRMSSD (the natural logarithm of the root mean square of successive differences). A very good agreement was found between pooled PP and RR intervals with a mean bias of 0.17 ms and a correlation coefficient of 0.993 (p < 0.001). In the laboratory, HR did not differ between the devices (mean bias 0.0 bpm), but PPG slightly underestimated the nocturnal recordings (mean bias −0.7 bpm, p < 0.001). PPG overestimated LnRMSSD both in the laboratory (mean bias 0.20 ms, p < 0.001) and nocturnal recordings (mean bias 0.17 ms, p < 0.001). However, very strong intraclass correlations in the nocturnal recordings were found between the devices (HR: 0.998, p < 0.001; LnRMSSD: 0.931, p < 0.001). In conclusion, PPG was able to measure HR and HRV with adequate accuracy in recreational athletes. However, when strict absolute values are of importance, systematic overestimation, which seemed to especially concern participants with low LnRMSSD, should be acknowledged.
Nuuttila et al. (Sun,) conducted a observational in Healthy recreational athletes (n=39). Wrist-worn Polar Vantage V2 (PPG) vs. Reference heart rate sensor (HRS) was evaluated on Agreement between HRS- and PPG-derived HR and LnRMSSD (Correlation coefficient 0.993, p=<0.001). The wrist-worn Polar Vantage V2 measured HR and HRV with adequate accuracy compared to a reference sensor, demonstrating a correlation coefficient of 0.993 for pooled intervals (p<0.001).
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