Last Updated on September 26, 2022 by pg@petergamma.org
Schaffarczyk, M.; Rogers, B.; Reer, R.; Gronwald,
Sensors 2022, 22, 6536. 30 August 2022
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/17/6536
«The present study compared selected HRV data (with inclusion of DFA a1) obtained by the Polar H10 chest strap device using the Elite HRV application for data recording, storage and export vs. a 12-channel ECG CardioPart 12 Blue (AMEDTEC Medizintechnik Aue GmbH, Germany)»
- Department Sports and Exercise Medicine, Institute of Human Movement Science, University of Hamburg, 20148 Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Interdisciplinary Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, 20457 Hamburg, Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA
Abstract:
Heart rate variability (HRV) is frequently applied in sport-specific settings. The rising use of freely accessible applications for its recording requires validation processes to ensure accurate data. It is the aim of this study to compare the HRV data obtained by the Polar H10 sensor chest strap device and an electrocardiogram (ECG) with the focus on RR intervals and short-term scaling exponent alpha 1 of Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA a1) as non-linear metric of HRV analysis. A group of 25 participants performed an exhaustive cycling ramp with measurements of HRV with both recording systems. Average time between heartbeats (RR), heart rate (HR) and DFA a1 were recorded before (PRE), during, and after (POST) the exercise test. High correlations were found for the resting conditions (PRE: r = 0.95, rc = 0.95, ICC3,1 = 0.95, POST: r = 0.86, rc = 0.84, ICC3,1 = 0.85) and for the incremental exercise (r > 0.93, rc > 0.93, ICC3,1 > 0.93). While PRE and POST comparisons revealed no differences, significant bias could be found during the exercise test for all variables (p < 0.001 ). For RR and HR, bias and limits of agreement (LoA) in the Bland–Altman analysis were minimal (RR: bias of 0.7 to 0.4 ms with LoA of 4.3 to −2.8 ms during low intensity and 1.3 to −0.5 ms during high intensity, HR: bias of −0.1 to −0.2 ms with LoA of 0.3 to −0.5 ms during low intensity and 0.4 to −0.7 ms during high intensity). DFA a1 showed wider bias and LoAs (bias of 0.9 to 8.6% with LoA of 11.6 to −9.9% during low intensity and 58.1 to −40.9% during high intensity). Linear HRV measurements derived from the Polar H10 chest strap device show strong agreement and small bias compared with ECG recordings and can be recommended for practitioners. However, with respect to DFA a1, values in the uncorrelated range and during higher exercise intensities tend to elicit higher bias and wider LoA.
Conclusions
Linear HRV measurements derived from the Polar H10 sensor chest strap device recorded with the Elite HRV app correspond closely with measurements taken with a reference ECG in terms of RR intervals and HR. However, with respect to DFA a1, values in theuncorrelated range and during higher exercise intensities tend to elicit higher biasand wider LoA. This may partly be related to the expected differences in non-linear HRVassociated with ECG lead placement. Nevertheless, since this mobile-based HRV recording setup displays superior practicability with generally comparable results, its commercial usefor the monitoring of HRV data during resting and endurance exercise conditions couldbe justified.