Heart rate variability (HRV) is measured to analyze autonomic nervous system function in humans, and pulse rate variability (PRV) assessed using the photoplethysmography method with a pulse oximeter has been proposed as a surrogate for HRV. To examine whether PRV is compatible with HRV in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we simultaneously measured HRV with an electrocardiogram and PRV with a pulse oximeter in patients with COPD, and compared low-frequency and high-frequency components computed from HRV and PRV as indicators of autonomic nervous system function. In a Bland-Altman analysis, the low-frequency component computed from HRV exhibited good consistency with that computed from PRV. The high-frequency component showed a significant fixed error but relatively good consistency. Our results indicate that autonomic nervous system function may be estimated with the low-frequency component by measuring PRV with a pulse oximeter in patients with COPD.
Keywords: autonomic nervous system; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; heart rate variability; pulse oximetry; pulse rate variability.
©2023 Tottori University Medical Press.