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Updated: Dec 27, 2025
Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System ANS Activity in Children
Published on: April 29, 2013
Cardiac autonomic modulation assessed by heart rate variability in children with asthma
Ozeia S Franco1, Abelardo O S Júnior2, Luis U Signori3
1Pediatric Pulmonology Division, Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences and Postgraduate Program in Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Insights
Children with asthma show altered heart rate variability (HRV), indicating potential cardiac autonomic imbalance with increased parasympathetic activity. Asthma severity and control did not significantly impact these HRV measures in this study.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Cardiology
- Autonomic Nervous System Research
Background:
- Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition affecting children worldwide.
- Cardiac autonomic function plays a role in various physiological processes.
- Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis is a non-invasive tool to assess autonomic modulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate cardiac autonomic modulation in children with asthma using short-term frequency domain analysis of HRV.
- To compare HRV parameters between children with asthma and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Observational study involving 119 children with asthma (aged 7-15) and 56 healthy controls.
- Frequency domain HRV analysis, including low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) components and LF/HF ratio.
- HRV measures were analyzed in normalized units (nu) and absolute power.
Main Results:
- Asthmatic children exhibited significantly higher HF (nu) and lower LF (nu) and LF/HF ratio compared to controls (P=.02 for HF and LF, P=.03 for LF/HF ratio).
- No significant differences in HRV measures were found between children with persistent versus intermittent asthma.
- Similarly, no significant associations were observed between HRV and asthma control levels (well-controlled vs. partially/uncontrolled).
Conclusions:
- Children with stable chronic asthma may present with cardiac autonomic imbalance, potentially characterized by enhanced parasympathetic modulation.
- Current HRV analysis did not reveal significant associations with asthma severity or control, though further research with larger cohorts is warranted.
Objective:
To assess cardiac autonomic modulation, measured by short-term frequency domain analysis of heart rate variability (HRV), in children with asthma.
Methods:
We conducted an observational study at a tertiary care teaching hospital. The sample consisted of 119 children aged 7 to 15 years with asthma and 56 age-matched healthy controls. Frequency domain HRV measures included low-frequency (LF; 0.04-0.15 Hz), high-frequency (HF; 0.15-0.4 Hz), and LF/HF ratio. The LF and HF components were expressed in both absolute values of power (ms2 ) and in normalized units (nu).
Results:
Compared with healthy controls, asthmatic children had significantly higher value of HF (nu) (mean ± standard deviation: 45.9 ± 14.6 vs 40.7 ± 13.6; P = .02), and lower values of LF (nu) (54.1 ± 14.6 vs 59.3 ± 13.6; P = .02) and LF/HF ratio (median, interquartile range: 1.12, 0.82-1.88 vs 1.59, 1.02-2.08; P = .03). We did not find significant differences between children with persistent and intermittent asthma, and between children with well-controlled and partially-controlled or uncontrolled asthma, in terms of HRV measures.
Conclusions:
Children with stable chronic asthma may have a cardiac autonomic imbalance with a possible enhanced parasympathetic modulation, as assessed by short-term frequency domain analysis of HRV. Neither asthma severity nor asthma control was significantly associated with HRV measures, but the study did not have enough power to draw a firm conclusion on this point.
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