BackgroundPhysiological reflexes modulated primarily by the vagus nerve allow the heart to
decelerate and accelerate rapidly after a deep inspiration followed by rapid
movement of the limbs. This is the physiological and pharmacologically validated
basis for the 4-s exercise test (4sET) used to assess the vagal modulation of
cardiac chronotropism.ObjectiveTo present reference data for 4sET in healthy adults.MethodsAfter applying strict clinical inclusion/exclusion criteria, 1,605 healthy adults
(61% men) aged between 18 and 81 years subjected to 4sET were evaluated between
1994 and 2014. Using 4sET, the cardiac vagal index (CVI) was obtained by
calculating the ratio between the duration of two RR intervals in the
electrocardiogram: 1) after a 4-s rapid and deep breath and immediately before
pedaling and 2) at the end of a rapid and resistance-free 4-s pedaling
exercise.ResultsCVI varied inversely with age (r = -0.33, p < 0.01), and the intercepts and
slopes of the linear regressions between CVI and age were similar for men and
women (p > 0.05). Considering the heteroscedasticity and the asymmetry of the
distribution of the CVI values according to age, we chose to express the reference
values in percentiles for eight age groups (years): 18–30, 31–40, 41–45, 46–50,
51–55, 56–60, 61–65, and 66+, obtaining progressively lower median CVI values
ranging from 1.63 to 1.24.ConclusionThe availability of CVI percentiles for different age groups should promote the
clinical use of 4sET, which is a simple and safe procedure for the evaluation of
vagal modulation of cardiac chronotropism.