Validity of the Pneumonitor for Analysis of Short-Term Heart Rate Asymmetry Extended with Respiratory Data in Pediatric Cardiac Patients

Abstract

Background: Wearable technologies have been developed to measure physiological parameters conveniently. To consider the new measurement device valid, the crucial point is to assess its reliability with the gold standard. The study aimed to assess the validity of the Pneumonitor (PM, fs = 250 Hz) for acquisition of 5 min RR intervals (RRi) for analysis of heart rate asymmetry (HRA) in relation to the electrocardiography (ECG, fs = 1000 Hz) in a group of 19 pediatric cardiac patients. Association between HRA and respiratory rate (RespRate) was verified. Methods: The validation comprised Bland–Altman analysis, intraclass correlation coefficient, and Student’s t-test. Results: Sufficient agreement between 10 from 16 HRA parameters was observed. Different HRA parameters values calculated based on RRi from both devices were related to different results of correlation analysis between two parameters and RespRate. Conclusions: The PM might be considered valid for recording RRi, which are then processed to calculate selected HRA parameters in a group of pediatric cardiac patients in rest condition. However, RRi recorded using devices with fs < 250 Hz may be not adequate for reliable HRA analysis.