2018 Volume 67 Issue 3 Pages 289-293
To determine whether the short-term assessment of pulse rate variability (PRV) is a surrogate for that of heart rate variability (HRV) in an elderly population under resting conditions, we collected photoplethysmography (PPG) and electrocardiography (ECG) signals simultaneously, and analyzed their association and agreement with HRV and PRV components. We divided the elderly population into three groups, namely, those younger than 70 years (< 70 yrs), those older than 70 years and younger than 80 years (70–79 yrs), and those older than 80 years (≥ 80 yrs), and we found that PRV was more underestimated than HRV with increasing age, although the PRV components highly correlated with the HRV components in the three groups. Thus, PRV can be used to examine the autonomic nervous system (ANS) function in elderly populations. However, the interpretation of results should consider the effect of aging, particularly in those older than 80 years.
