A validation study of a smartphone application for heart rate variability assessment in asymptomatic adults | JoVE Visualize

A validation study of a smartphone application for heart rate variability assessment in asymptomatic adults

Bruno Bavaresco Gambassi^1,2, Victor Ribeiro Neves^1,3, Einstein Zeus Alves Brito^1,4

¹Laboratório de Pesquisas em Desempenho Humano (LAPEDH), Universidade de Pernambuco (UPE) Petrolina, PE 56328-900, Brazil.

American Journal of Cardiovascular Disease|September 14, 2020

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

A smartphone application effectively measures heart rate variability (HRV), showing high correlation with electrocardiogram (ECG) during rest and orthostatic challenge. This validates the app for assessing cardiac autonomic modulation.

Area of Science:

Cardiology
Biomedical Engineering
Physiology

Background:

Heart rate variability (HRV) assessment is a key non-invasive method for evaluating cardiac autonomic modulation.
Mobile applications offer a convenient platform for HRV assessment, necessitating validation against established methods.
Previous methods for HRV analysis relied on specialized equipment, limiting accessibility.

Purpose of the Study:

To validate a freeware smartphone application for measuring R-R intervals (RRi).
To compare RRi data from the smartphone app against a gold-standard electrocardiogram (ECG).
To assess the accuracy of the smartphone app during both resting and orthostatic challenge conditions.

Main Methods:

Fifteen healthy adults underwent an orthostatic challenge.
Simultaneous RRi recordings were performed using a smartphone application and an ECG recorder.
Statistical analyses included Pearson correlation coefficients, coefficients of determination, and Bland-Altman analysis.

Main Results:

A near-perfect correlation was found between the smartphone app and ECG for RRi measurements (r=0.999 at rest, r=0.988 during orthostasis).
The number of RRi recorded by both devices was comparable at rest and during the challenge.
Minimal bias was observed between the two methods, with limits of agreement indicating good consistency.

Conclusions:

The freeware smartphone application demonstrates high accuracy and reliability in measuring HRV.
The study successfully cross-validated the smartphone app against the ECG-derived reference condition.
This validated app can serve as a reliable tool for assessing cardiac autonomic modulation in asymptomatic adults.