A person's normal heart rate is relatively constant over time. However, this can differ from another person's by up to 70 beats per minute. This is an analysis of the largest data set ever collecteddaily resting heart rate. It comes from study author Giorgio Quer from the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California. He and his colleagues presented these results on February 5, 2020 in the online journal PLOS ONE as part of an upcoming collection on digital health technology.
Determine normal heart rate
A routine doctor's visit usually includes a resting heart rate measurement, but such measurements are rarely actionable. Unless they deviate significantly from a usual range established by researchers through population-level studies. Modern portable measuring devices can track human heart activity, as well as theCount steps. However, these also offer the possibility of continuously monitoring the collected data over a longer period of time. This allows individuals to determine their normal heart rate on an individual level.
In the largest study of its kind to date, Quer and his colleagues retrospectively analyzed the unidentified data from the so-called wearables. 92,457 people wore this technology for an average of 320 days. During the year, the scientists recorded a total of 33 million days worth of these. The researchers used the data to examine variations in resting heart rate for people over time, as well as between people with different characteristics.
Importantly, the analysis found that one person's average daily resting heart rate can differ from another person's normal heart rate by up to 70 beats per minute. Taken together, age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and average daily sleep duration accounted for less than 10 percent of the observed differences between individuals.
Research results
The authors observed a small seasonal trend with slightly higher values in January and slightly lower values in July. The researchers also noted that some people occasionally experience brief periods in which their resting heart rate deviates from their normal range by 10 or more beats per minute. These results suggest the potential value of further investigation. They are investigating whether tracking a person's daily resting heart rate could enable earlier detection of clinically important changes.
“Daily changes in resting heart rate could be the first true, individualized digital vital sign that can only be measured thanks to wearable sensor technology. We analyzed the extent of inter- and intra-individual changes, as well as changes in resting heart rate over time, which show different patterns depending on age and gender, season, average sleep duration and BMI, and which make it possible to detect early unexpected changes in a person's health to recognize people. ” This is what the authors sharein the studywith.
