A pilot study of QT interval analysis in overweight and obese youth

Abstract

This descriptive pilot study examined if manual corrected QT (QTc) interval measures obtained from a standard 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) correlated with automated 24-hour ambulatory Holter QTc measures in 30 overweight and obese youth aged 12-17 years. In addition, we sought to determine if a significant difference existed between the means of manual 12-lead ECG versus automated 24-hour ambulatory Holter measures. Spearman's rho correlation coefficient revealed there was little if any correlation between manual 12-lead ECG and automated 24-hour ambulatory Holter QTc measures (r = .179, p = .345). In addition, a significant difference existed between QTc measures obtained from the manual 12-lead ECG in comparison to the automated 24-hour ambulatory Holter measures (p = .01). The manual 12-lead ECG and automated 24-hour ambulatory Holter analysis methods should not be used for comparison of QTc measures in overweight and obese youth.