Three-minute ECG recording and arrhythmia detection in the evaluation and promotion of health.
OBJECTIVE
A regular electrocardiogram (ECG) performed for about 20 seconds may fail to detect arrhythmia, whereas a prolonged ECG may detect arrhythmia in cases where the regular ECG is negative. In the present study, we examined the effectiveness of a 3-minute ECG for detection of arrhythmia.


METHODS
The frequency of newly detected arrhythmia in the 3-minute ECG was calculated and compared between subjects and normal controls.


METHODS
Subjects with arrhythmia in a resting ECG and subjects with past histories or symptoms of arrhythmia or heart diseases (n=1,525) and randomly selected normal controls (n=363) who visited our hospital to check up their health were examined.


RESULTS
A regular ECG showed that 372 subjects had arrhythmia. Of the remaining 1,153 subjects, the 3-minute ECG detected arrhythmia in 104 subjects. Detection of arrhythmia in the 3-minute ECG was more frequent in the subjects than in normal controls (9.0% vs. 1.7%, p<0.05). The 3-minute recording detected arrhythmia more frequently in subjects with a past history of premature contraction or in subjects with palpitation than in the controls (10.0%, or 9.9% vs. 1.7%, p<0.05, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
A 3-minute ECG recording appears to be useful for detecting premature contractions in subjects with a past history of premature contraction and/or palpitation, even if arrhythmia is not shown on a regular ECG recording at rest.
Minami
Mayumi
M
Tohma Health Evaluation and Promotion Center, Kumagaya, Japan. mayuminami@aol.com
Ishikawa
Yutaka
Y
Matsumoto
Yoko
Y
Atarashi
Hirotsugu
H
Atarashi
Keiichiro
K
D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005117:Cardiac Complexes, Premature / Q000175:diagnosis; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors