Validity of a Heart Rate Monitor During Work in the Laboratory and on the Space Shuttle

• Published in: American Industrial Hygiene Association journal Vol. 58; no. 4; pp. 299 - 301
• Main Authors: Moore, Alan D., Lee, Stuart M.C., Greenisen, Michael C., Bishop, Phillip
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Legacy CDMS Taylor & Francis Group 01.04.1997; American Industrial Hygiene Association; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Applied physiology; Astronauts; Biological and medical sciences; Datasets; Electrocardiography; Ergonomics; Exercise; Exercise Test; Heart; Heart Rate; heart rate monitors; Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology; Humans; Laboratories; Life Sciences (General); Medical sciences; Monitoring, Physiologic; Personal computers; R&D; Reproducibility of Results; Research & development; Space exploration; Space Flight; Space shuttles; Studies; Transports. Aerospace. Diving. Altitude; validation; Validity; Working conditions; Support, U.s. Gov't, Non-P.h.s; Human; Heart Rate; Nasa Discipline Number 00-00; Comparative Study; Space Flight; Short Duration; Sts Shuttle Project; Flight Experiment; Nasa Program Flight; Nasa Center Jsc; Reproducibility Of Results; Monitoring, Physiologic; Exercise Test; Electrocardiography; Nasa Discipline Space Human Factors; Adult; Manned; Heart; Validation; Crew; Astronaut; Environmental factor; Weightlessness; Space flight; Workload; Heart rate; Ergonomics; Circulatory system; Microgravity; Monitoring; NASA Discipline Number 00-00; NASA Discipline Space Human Factors; NASA Program Flight; NASA Center JSC
• ISSN: 0002-8894
• DOI: 10.1080/15428119791012829

Accurate heart rate measurement during work is required for many industrial hygiene and ergonomics situations. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the validity of heart rate measurements obtained by a simple, lightweight, commercially available, wrist-worn heart rate monitor (HRM) during work (cycle exercise) sessions conducted in the laboratory and also during the particularly challenging work environment of space flight. Three different comparisons were made. The first compared HRM data to simultaneous electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings of varying heart rates that were generated by an ECG simulator. The second compared HRM data to ECG recordings collected during work sessions of 14 subjects in the laboratory. Finally, ECG downlink and HRM data were compared in four astronauts who performed cycle exercise during space flight. The data were analyzed using regression techniques. The results were that the HRM recorded virtually identical heart rates compared with ECG recordings for the data set generated by an ECG simulator. The regression equation for the relationship between ECG versus HRM heart rate data during work in the laboratory was: ECG HR=0.99·(HRM)+0.82 (r 2 =0.99). Finally, the agreement between ECG downlink data and HRM data during space flight was also very high, with the regression equation being: Downlink ECG HR=1.05·(HRM)−5.71 (r 2 =0.99). The results of this study indicate that the HRM provides accurate data and may be used to reliably obtain valid data regarding heart rate responses during work.