Reference ranges for short-term heart rate variability measures in individuals free of cardiovascular disease: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
BACKGROUND
Normative values for heart rate variability (HRV) measures from 10-s electrocardiograms (ECG) have not been defined.


METHODS
We reported borderline abnormal (<5th percentile) and abnormal (<2nd percentile) values of standard deviation of all normal-to-normal R-R intervals (SDNN) and root mean square of successive differences between normal-to-normal R-R intervals (rMSSD) from 10-s ECGs in 1175 participants (mean age=59±10; 59% female; 47% white) ≥45years of age from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) who were free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD risk factors. We validated the prognostic significance of these measures in a subset of the MESA cohort with complete data.


RESULTS
Borderline abnormal and abnormal SDNN and rMSSD varied by sex and race. Borderline abnormal and abnormal SDNN and rMSSD were associated with an increased risk of CVD and all-cause mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
The references ranges provided in this report will guide future research using these common HRV parameters.
["O'Neal|Wesley T|WT|", 'Chen|Lin Y|LY|', 'Nazarian|Saman|S|', 'Soliman|Elsayed Z|EZ|']
D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D004562:Electrocardiography D005260:Female D006339:Heart Rate D000070276:Heart Rate Determination D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D012016:Reference Values D015203:Reproducibility of Results D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity D014481:United States
Heart rate variability Electrocardiogram Epidemiology