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Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Aug 12;18(16):8508.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18168508.

Associations of Sedentary Time with Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Abdullah Bandar Alansare  1 , Lauren C Bates  2 , Lee Stoner  2 , Christopher E Kline  3 , Elizabeth Nagle  3 , J Richard Jennings  4 , Erik D Hanson  2 , Mark A Faghy  5 , Bethany Barone Gibbs  3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Associations of Sedentary Time with Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Abdullah Bandar Alansare et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate if sedentary time (ST) is associated with heart rate (HR) and variability (HRV) in adults.

Methods: We systematically searched PubMed and Google Scholar through June 2020. Inclusion criteria were observational design, humans, adults, English language, ST as the exposure, resting HR/HRV as the outcome, and (meta-analysis only) availability of the quantitative association with variability. After qualitative synthesis, meta-analysis used inverse variance heterogeneity models to estimate pooled associations.

Results: Thirteen and eight articles met the criteria for the systematic review and meta-analysis, respectively. All studies were cross-sectional and few used gold standard ST or HRV assessment methodology. The qualitative synthesis suggested no associations between ST and HR/HRV. The meta-analysis found a significant association between ST and HR (β = 0.24 bpm per hour ST; CI: 0.10, 0.37) that was stronger in males (β = 0.36 bpm per hour ST; CI: 0.19, 0.53). Pooled associations between ST and HRV indices were non-significant (p > 0.05). Substantial heterogeneity was detected.

Conclusions: The limited available evidence suggests an unfavorable but not clinically meaningful association between ST and HR, but no association with HRV. Future longitudinal studies assessing ST with thigh-based monitoring and HRV with electrocardiogram are needed.

Keywords: autonomic regulation; heart rate variability; lifestyle behaviors; sedentary time; vagal activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Article selection flow chart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plots of articles examining the association between ST and HR. (a) Association between ST (hours/day) and HR (beats/minute) including all articles. (b) Association between ST (hours/day) and HR (beats/minute) after excluding the high influence article [25].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plots of articles examining the association between ST and time domain indices of HRV. (a) Association between ST and SDNN. (b) Association between ST and RMSSD.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plots of articles examining the association between ST and frequency domain indices of HRV. (a) Association between ST and LF. (b) Association between ST and HF. (c) Association between ST and LF/HF ratio.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plots of articles examining the association between ST and frequency domain indices of HRV. (a) Association between ST and LF. (b) Association between ST and HF. (c) Association between ST and LF/HF ratio.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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