Venn Rachel, Northey Joseph M, Naumovski Nenad, McKune Andrew
School of Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia.
Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia.
Children (Basel). 2024 Jul 9;11(7):835. doi: 10.3390/children11070835.
Heart rate variability (HRV), an index of the functional status of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), provides an opportunity for early detection of ANS dysfunction. Lower resting, vagally related HRV parameters are associated with increased risk of physical and mental illness. External factors influencing the ANS, such as the testing environment, may impact the interpretation of HRV. This study's main aim was to determine the reliability of HRV resting and reactivity tests performed at home with children aged 4-9 years.
Fourteen healthy children (female = 8) aged 6.8 ± 1.5 years participated. Two HRV tests were performed at home via online supervision 7 days apart using a Polar H10 heart rate monitor. The absolute and relative reliability of the pre-exercise resting (5 min) and sub-maximal exercise step test recovery (4 × 30 s segments) HRV time and frequency domains were calculated.
The Pearson correlation coefficients for day 1 versus day 7 for the vagal activity HRV domains (RMSSD log) at rest and in the first 30 s and 30-60 s of recovery indicated good-to-excellent relative reliability (r > 0.8, < 0.01). Absolute reliability was moderate for the resting RMSSD log, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 5.2% (90% CI: 3.9, 7.8%), high for the first 30 s of standing recovery, with a CV of 10.7% (90% CI: 8.2, 15.7%), and moderate for 30-60 s of recovery, with a CV of 8.7% (90% CI: 6.6, 12.9%).
The findings of this pilot study indicate that the resting and exercise recovery HRV measures of vagal activity can be measured reliably at home in children. This represents a novel "at-home" protocol for monitoring ANS health and development in children.
心率变异性（HRV）是自主神经系统（ANS）功能状态的指标，为早期检测ANS功能障碍提供了机会。较低的静息、与迷走神经相关的HRV参数与身心疾病风险增加相关。影响ANS的外部因素，如测试环境，可能会影响HRV的解读。本研究的主要目的是确定4至9岁儿童在家中进行的HRV静息和反应性测试的可靠性。
14名健康儿童（女性8名）参与，年龄为6.8±1.5岁。使用Polar H10心率监测器，通过在线监督在家中进行两次HRV测试，间隔7天。计算运动前静息（5分钟）和次最大运动台阶测试恢复（4×30秒片段）HRV时域和频域的绝对和相对可靠性。
静息和恢复的前30秒及30 - 60秒时，迷走神经活动HRV域（RMSSD对数）第1天与第7天的Pearson相关系数表明相对可靠性良好至优秀（r>0.8，<0.01）。静息RMSSD对数的绝对可靠性为中等，变异系数（CV）为5.2%（90%CI：3.9，7.8%）；站立恢复的前30秒绝对可靠性高，CV为10.7%（90%CI：8.2，15.7%）；恢复的30 - 60秒绝对可靠性为中等，CV为8.7%（90%CI：6.6，12.9%）。
这项初步研究的结果表明，儿童在家中可以可靠地测量迷走神经活动的静息和运动恢复HRV指标。这代表了一种用于监测儿童ANS健康和发育的新型“在家”方案。
