Schuit A J, van Amelsvoort L G, Verheij T C, Rijneke R D, Maan A C, Swenne C A, Schouten E G
Division of Human Nutrition and Epidemiology, Agricultural University Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999 Jun;31(6):816-21. doi: 10.1097/00005768-199906000-00009.
Heart rate variability (HRV), a characteristic that is potentially increased by physical activity, has been associated with incidence of cardiac events and total mortality. Since the incidence of cardiac events among older people is high and their physical activity levels and HRV are generally low, it is important to investigate whether regular physical activity can modify HRV in this age group. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of regular physical activity on HRV in older men and women.
In a randomized controlled trial, the effect of six months' training on HRV was investigated in a group of 51 older men and women (67.0 +/- 5.1 yr). The training group gathered three times per week for 45 min supervised training.
At the end of the intervention period, HRV was higher primarily during the day. During daytime, the SD of all normal intervals (+6%) as well as the low frequency component (+ 15%) and the very low frequency component (+ 10%) of HRV were significantly increased (P < 0.05) as compared with the control group. Effects of training were most pronounced in subjects inactive in sports at baseline.
This study demonstrates that regular physical activity increases HRV (specifically in the very low and low frequency components) in older subjects. Hence, in older subjects, physical training may be an effective means to modify positively a factor that is associated with increased incidence of cardiac events.
心率变异性（HRV）是一种可能因体育活动而增加的特征，它与心脏事件的发生率和总死亡率相关。由于老年人心脏事件的发生率较高，且他们的体育活动水平和HRV通常较低，因此研究规律的体育活动是否能改变该年龄组的HRV很重要。本研究的目的是调查规律的体育活动对老年男性和女性HRV的影响。
在一项随机对照试验中，对一组51名老年男性和女性（67.0±5.1岁）进行了为期六个月的训练对HRV影响的研究。训练组每周聚集三次，进行45分钟的有监督训练。
在干预期结束时，HRV主要在白天较高。与对照组相比，白天HRV的所有正常间期标准差（+6%）以及低频成分（+15%）和极低频成分（+10%）均显著增加（P<0.05）。训练效果在基线时不参加体育活动的受试者中最为明显。
本研究表明，规律的体育活动可增加老年受试者的HRV（特别是在极低频和低频成分中）。因此，对于老年受试者，体育锻炼可能是一种有效手段，可以积极改变与心脏事件发生率增加相关的一个因素。
