Correlation between physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and heart rate variability among young overweight adults

Objective: Cardiac autonomic function assessed by heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive, quantitative, and reliable marker of measurement. An altered cardiac autonomic function among overweight individuals predisposes them to a greater risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. The present study aims to determine the correlation between physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and heart rate variability among young overweight adults. Methods: A total of 45 participants (23 men and 22 women) were enrolled in the cross-sectional study with inclusion criteria as follows: aged between 1830 years, body mass index (kg/m²) between 2529.9 kg/m², and without any known or diagnosed medical condition. Physical activity level and cardiorespiratory fitness were measured using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire and Bruce treadmill protocol test, respectively. Cardiac autonomic function was measured using a 5-min short-term heart rate variability recording. The time and frequency domain measures of HRV were used for analysis. Results: The mean age of study participants was 22.53 ± 1.58 years and mean body mass index was 27.38 ± 1.51 kg/m2. Among young overweight adults, cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity were not correlated with Root mean square of successive RR interval differences, Percentage of successive RR intervals that differ by more than 50 ms, and Ratio of LF [ms2]/HF [ms2]. Conclusion: The study found no correlation between physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness with heart rate variability among young overweight individuals.