Analysis of heart rate variability demonstrates effects of development on vagal modulation of heart rate in healthy children

• Published in: The Journal of pediatrics Vol. 130; no. 5; pp. 725 - 729
• Main Authors: Goto, Masahiko, Nagashima, Masami, Baba, Reizo, Nagano, Yoshiko, Yokota, Mitsuhiro, Nishibata, Kenji, Tsuji, Akinito
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.05.1997; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Aging - physiology; Autonomic Nervous System - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Electrocardiography; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heart; Heart Rate - physiology; Humans; Male; Monitoring, Ambulatory; Reference Values; Vertebrates: cardiovascular system; IHR; LF; rMSSD; HRV; HF; Human; Heart rate; Regulation(control); Autonomic nervous system; Modulation; Adolescent; Evolution; Vagus nerve; Child; Age; Parasympathetic nervous system
• ISSN: 0022-3476; 1097-6833
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-3476(97)80013-3

Objectives: Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) has been found to be a useful method of assessing cardiovascular autonomic control, but normal values for standard HRV measures in children have not been established. We analyzed HRV in 60 healthy children aged 3 to 15 years to determine normal values and to assess the effects of development on cardiac autonomic control with the use of ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring. Results: The high-frequency (HF) component, an index of cardiac autonomic tone, increased significantly with age from 3 to 6 years (p<0.01) and decreased with age from 6 to 15 years (p<0.01), and the magnitude of HF correlated significantly with the R-R intervals. Thus the changes in cardiac autonomic tone could be described as a simple equation using age and heart rate. Conclusions: We present normal values and changes in the cardiac autonomic system during childhood after HRV analysis, which could lead to a better understanding and treatment of cardiac disease in children.