Normative heart rate parameters during sleep for children aged 6 to 11 years

• Published in: Journal of clinical sleep medicine 2010-02, Vol.6 (1), p.47-50
• Main Authors: Archbold, Kristen Hedger, Johnson, Nathan L, Goodwin, James L, Rosen, Carol L, Quan, Stuart F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: African Americans; Age Factors; Arizona; Body Mass Index; Child; Cohort Studies; Electrocardiography; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Heart Rate; Hispanic Americans; Humans; Least-Squares Analysis; Male; New Research; Ohio; Polysomnography; Reference Values; Sex Factors; Sleep - physiology
• ISSN: 1550-9389; 1550-9397
• DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.27709

Normative values for pediatric heart rates during sleep are not known. The purpose of this study was to describe the average sleeping heart rate of children and to determine if age, sex, body mass index (BMI) or ethnicity is related to sleeping heart rate. Electrocardiogram (ECG) data were obtained from healthy children during in-home polysomnography in the Tucson Children's Assessment of Sleep Apnea study (TuCASA) or home cardiorespiratory sleep studies in the Cleveland Children's Sleep and Health Study (CCSHS). Data were described then compared in separate cohort analyses using least square means from analysis of variance models that controlled for age, sex, ethnicity, and BMI. Student t tests were used to compare groups within cohorts for significant differences. In the cohort of 470 TuCASA children, 50.3% were female, 41% were Hispanic; mean age (SD) was 8.7 (1.7) years. Hispanics and Caucasians did not differ significantly on mean sleeping heart rate. The CCSHS cohort consisted of 561 children; 50.2% female and 33% African American, aged 8.9 (0.6) years. African Americans had significantly faster sleeping heart rates than Caucasians in the CCSHS cohort. In both cohorts, younger children demonstrated significantly faster sleeping heart rates than older children; girls had significantly faster sleeping heart rates than boys (TuCASA: girls 77.6 [9.9] vs boys 73.6 [8.2]; CCHS: girls 81.5 [8.4] vs boys 78.4 [8.1]) and obese children (BMI > or = 95th percentile for age) had significantly faster sleeping heart rates than nonobese children (TuCASA: obese children: 79.3 [12.3] vs nonobese children 75.0 [8.7]; CCHS: obese children: 83.3 [8.4] vs nonobese children 79.4 [8.31]). Children aged 6 to 11 years have sleeping heart rates that decrease significantly with age. African American ethnicity, female sex, and obesity were associated with faster sleeping heart rates.