Minimum Measurement Time Affecting the Reliability of the Heart Rate Variability Analysis

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Heart rate variability (HRV) test is in widely used for measurement of autonomic nerve system. Although the standard measurement time for short-term HRV analysis is regarded as 5 minutes, it could be varied depending on the clinical situation. Thus, we examined that the valid minimum measurement time for HRV through comparison of HRV among 10 segments per 30 seconds from 30 seconds to 300 seconds. METHODS: The study included 1,457 adult participants who visited the health promotion center in Seoul, Korea from the March 2009 to December 2012. The variables of the time domain and frequency domain analysis of HRV among 10 segments from 30 seconds to 300 seconds were compared using one-way ANOVA test with post-hoc analysis. RESULTS: Compared with 5-minute (300 seconds) HRV, the components of HRV measurement were statistically equal in condition with 180 seconds for standard deviation of all normal-to-normal interval (SDNN), 270 seconds for NN50, 180 seconds for total power, 180 seconds for low frequency power in normalized units (LFn), and 180 seconds for high frequency power in normalized units (HFn), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the minimum duration of HRV measurement might be more or than 180 seconds.