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Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Activity in Children
Published on: April 29, 2013
The influence of ventilatory control on heart rate variability in children
Craig A Williams1, Philippe Lopes
1Chelsea School, University of Brighton, Eastbourne, East Sussex, UK. c.a.williams@exeter.ac.uk
Insights
Breathing patterns significantly impact heart rate variability in children. Controlled breathing is essential for accurate resting heart rate variability assessments in pediatric studies.
Area of Science:
- Physiology
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Autonomic Nervous System Function
Background:
- Resting heart rate variability (HRV) is a key indicator of autonomic nervous system function.
- Previous research has not fully elucidated the impact of controlled breathing on HRV in pediatric populations.
- Understanding these influences is crucial for accurate physiological assessments in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of varying breathing frequencies and tidal volumes on resting heart rate variability in 9- and 16-year-old children.
- To determine if ventilatory control is necessary for reliable HRV measurements in pediatric age groups.
Main Methods:
- Heart rate variability was measured in four conditions: spontaneous breathing, fixed breathing frequency (12 breaths/min), fixed breathing frequency with fixed tidal volume (30% vital capacity), and a slower fixed breathing frequency (6 breaths/min) with fixed tidal volume.
- Autoregressive modeling was used to calculate spectral components (high and low frequency) from RR intervals.
- Analysis of variance was employed due to younger children's inability to consistently achieve controlled breathing conditions.
Main Results:
- Significant interactions were found between age groups and HRV conditions for low-frequency components and the low-to-high frequency ratio.
- Controlled breathing at 12 breaths/min (without fixed tidal volume) resulted in higher HRV measures (SDNN, TP, HF, LF) compared to spontaneous breathing.
- Older children showed higher high-frequency components at 6 breaths/min with fixed tidal volume, and a lower LF/HF ratio during spontaneous breathing compared to controlled breathing at 12 breaths/min.
Conclusions:
- Ventilatory control is necessary for accurate short-term resting heart rate variability assessments in children.
- Age influences the response of HRV to controlled breathing patterns.
- These findings highlight the importance of standardized breathing protocols in pediatric HRV research.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to determine the influence of breathing frequency and tidal volume on resting heart rate variability in children aged 9 years (n = 29) and 16 years (n = 19). Heart rate variability was measured in four conditions: (1) without the control of ventilation followed at random by (2) a fixed breathing frequency of 12 breaths x min(-1), (3) a breathing frequency of 12 breaths x min(-1) but with a fixed tidal volume of 30% vital capacity and (4) a fixed breathing frequency of 6 breaths x min(-1) and a tidal volume of 30% vital capacity. A total of 128 RR intervals (the time between two spikes in the heart rate) were detected and absolute high- and low-frequency spectral components were calculated using autoregressive modelling. The younger children were unable to control ventilation to achieve conditions 3 and 4; therefore, a 2 x 2 (group x condition) analysis of variance was used to analyse conditions 1 and 2. There were significant interactions between group and heart rate variability conditions for the low-frequency component and the ratio of low to high frequencies (P < 0.001). The main effect for condition showed that at 12 breaths x min(-1) with no fixed tidal volume there was a significantly higher standard deviation of the RR interval, total power and high-frequency (P< 0.01) and low-frequency spectral components (P < 0.05) than in the condition with no ventilatory control. Across the four breathing conditions for the older participants, the high-frequency spectral component was significantly higher in the condition at 6 breaths x min(-1) with a fixed tidal volume than in that with no ventilatory control (P < 0.005); the ratio of high to low frequencies was significantly lower for the spontaneous condition than those performed at 12 breaths x min(-1) (P < 0.001). The results provide evidence of the need for ventilatory control when assessing short-term resting heart rate variability in children.
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