title: Heart rate variability reflects the natural history of physiological development in healthy children and is not associated with quality of life.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Quality of life (QoL), being the sum expression of diverse influencing factors, is not easy to determine. A clinically relevant option would be to identify and measure quality of life on the basis of physiological parameters which correlate plausibly and statistically with psychometrically measured QoL. Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) offers readily measurable physiological parameters which could be of use here. A correlation of HRV with both course of disease and QoL has been reported in patients with chronic illness. Various psychometric instruments have been developed for use in paediatric oncology. The aim of this study was to obtain data on HRV and QoL and their correlations, initially in healthy children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Holter ECG and quality of life were examined in 160 children and adolescents (72 male) aged between 8 and 18 years. QoL was determined with the established questionnaire PEDQoL. Standard parameters of HRV from the frequency domain were calculated and correlated with QoL domains using Spearman (nonparametric) correlation analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Minor but significant associations were revealed only with regard to the PEDQoL domain "autonomy" on the one hand and heart rate and HRV (e.g. MRR, MRRn, MRRd, HRV_ULF, SDNN) parameters which evidently reflect distinct physiological functions on the other.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In healthy children and adolescents we have a first indication that there is a correlation between parameters of HRV and QoL. However, to a greater extent, HRV reflects associated physiological processes of the autonomic nervous system. A higher correlation is more likely to be found in chronically ill children.
authors.affiliation: Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Paediatric Oncology and Haematology, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Seifert
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Muenster, Childrens Hospital, Department for Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calaminus
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Muenster, Childrens Hospital, Department for Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wiener
authors.affiliation: Integrated Curriculum for Anthroposophic Medicine, Institute of Integrative Medicine, University of Witten/Herdecke, Witten, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cysarz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012016:Reference Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires