Analysis of heart rate variability in individuals subjected to different positive end expiratory pressure levels using expiratory positive airway pressure.
BACKGROUND
The increase in the number of studies has led to greater security in the application of this method and the determination of its effectiveness in adults.. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate heart rate variability in healthy individuals submitted to different levels of positive expiratory pressure using an expiratory positive airway pressure (EPAP) device.


METHODS
The study involved 27 healthy male individuals ranging in age from 20 to 35 years. Patient histories were taken and the subjects were submitted to a physical examination. The volunteers were monitored using the Polar 810s(®) and submitted to the EPAP experiment. Analyses were performed on variables of the frequency domain. Sympathetic and parasympathetic bands and their relationship with sympathovagal response were also analyzed.


RESULTS
The mean value of this variable was 526.89 (55.50) ms(2) in the first period, 2811.0 (721.10) ms(2) in the fourth period and 726.52 (123.41) ms(2) in the fifth period. Regarding the parasympathetic area, significant differences were detected when Periods 1 and 5 (no load) were compared with periods in which the individuals were subjected to the use of the therapy. Sympathetic and parasympathetic areas together, a significant difference was detected regarding the sympathetic/parasympathetic ratio in the comparison between Periods 1 and 4 (p < 0.01) as well as Periods 2 and 4 (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of the present study suggest that the therapeutic use of EPAP significantly alters the parameters of heart rate variability in the frequency domain, highlighting the importance of monitoring and care during the practice of EPAP.
Nove de Julho University, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Thiago Lorentz
TL
Pinto
Luciana Maria Malosá
LM
Sampaio
Ivan Peres
IP
Costa
Leandro Yukio Alves
LY
Kawaguchi
Flávio Aimbire Soares
FA
de Carvalho
Regiane Albertini
RA
de Carvalho
healthy individuals; heart rate variability; positive expiratory pressure