Long-term heart rate variability as a predictor of patient age

Comput Methods Programs Biomed. 2006 Jun;82(3):248-57. doi: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2006.04.005. Epub 2006 May 26.

Abstract

Patients age has been estimated in healthy population by means of the heart rate variability (HRV) parameters to assess the potentiality of HRV indexes as a biomarker of age. A long-term analysis of HRV has been performed, computing linear time and frequency domain parameters as well as non-linear metrics, in a dataset of 113 healthy subjects (age range 20-85 years old). The principal component analysis has been used to capture age-related influence on HRV and then three different models have been applied to predict subjects age: a robust linear regressor (RLR), a feedforward neural network (FFNN) and a radial basis function neural network (RBFNN). A good prediction of patient age has been obtained (using all principal components, the Pearson correlation coefficient between predicted and real age: RLR=0.793; FFNN=0.872; RBFNN=0.829), even if an overestimation in younger subjects and an underestimation in older ones may be observed. The important and complementary contribution of non-linear indexes to aging related HRV modifications has also been underlined.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging*
  • Electrocardiography
  • Female
  • Heart Rate*
  • Humans
  • Linear Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Models, Cardiovascular
  • Neural Networks, Computer
  • Nonlinear Dynamics
  • Principal Component Analysis