The effects of different body positions on the accuracy of ultra-short-term heart rate variability indexes

Purpose

With the increasing popularity of ultra-short heart rate variability (HRV) measurements being utilized with mobile devices outside of controlled, research settings, it is important to determine the proper methodology to ensure accuracy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the validity of ultra-short-term HRV metrics across three different body positions in recreationally active individuals.

Methods

Twenty-six subjects (12 males: 24.1 ± 3.6 yrs., 178.6 ± 6.4 cm, 82.9 ± 8.7 kg; 15 females: 21.3 ± 1.2 yrs., 170.7 ± 10.5 cm, 71.6 ± 18.9 kg) participated in 10-min electrocardiogram recordings in the supine, seated, and standing positions. HRV analysis using a variety of time, frequency, and non-linear parameters were performed following traditional recommendations (i.e., last 5 min of each 10-min recording) and ultra-short-term recordings (i.e., 1-min epoch following a 1-min stabilization period).

Results

Slight decreases (e.g., “near perfect” to “very large”) in intraclass correlations (ICC) and increases in the limits of agreement (LOA) were noted for most of the HRV metrics as position changed to sitting and then standing. However, throughout all three positions, the highest ICC values (0.88 to 0.92) and tightest LOA (CE ± 1.96 SD) were displayed in RMSSD.

Conclusions

This study supports the use of RMSSD and SD1 for assessing HRV under ultra-short-term recordings of 1 min regardless of position. However, practitioners should be consistent with the preferred position for measurements and not use them interchangeably to reduce potential errors during long-term monitoring.