Cardiac frequency in miners recorded during four to five work shifts

Cardiac frequency (fc) was recorded in 101 coal-face miners [mean age 32.7 (range 21-49) years, mean height 169.6 (range 150-185) cm, mean body mass 76.9 (range 54-106) kg, mean maximal cardiac frequency (fcmax) 180.2 (range 154-197) beats min-1, mean maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) 2.93 (range 1.9-4.0) 1.min-1] with a small-size, nonintrusive fc counter, during the five (n = 76) or at least four (n = 25) work-shifts in a week. The femax and VO2max were determined during a progressive test to exhaustion on a treadmill. Overall (four to five work-shifts) mean work-time fc(fc) was 97.7 (range 74.9-122.4) beats.min-1, resting fc (fcrest) 59.1 (range 50-75) beats.min-1, work-time increase in fc (fc-fcrest) 38.5 (range 21.1-55.8) beats.min-1 and percentage of fe reserve used (fcreserve = fcmax-fcrest) 32.0 (range 18.5-50.9). Multiple regression analysis showed that fc and fc-fcrest, as dependent variables, correlated with predicted percentage of CO lung diffusion capacity, (DLCOSB%) (r = - 0.334 and r = -0.273, respectively) but not with age, fcmax, VO2max, VO2max kg-1 body mass, effort test delta oxygen uptake/delta fe or percentage of forced expiratory volume in 1 s as independent variables. The percentage of fcreserve used as dependent variable, correlated with DLCOSB (r = -0.265) and fcmax (r = -0.227) but not with any of the other variables listed. Individual differences in worktime fc are thus large and virtually unpredictable. Other physiological variables not taken in account here (i.e. sense of effort, fatigue perception) as well as psychological ones (work satisfaction, motivation) may have played a role in those differences. At peaks of effort, some subjects reached fc values within the range of femax.