A preliminary systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of heart rate variability biofeedback on heart rate variability and respiration of athletes

Abstract To date, there is no quantitative review examining the influence of heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV BFB) on the athlete population. Such an undertaking may provide valuable information on the autonomic and respiration responses of athletes when performing HRV BFB. Thus, purpose of this preliminary systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of HRV BFB on HRV and respiration of athletes. Searches of Springerlink, SportDiscus, Web of Science, PROQUEST Academic Research Library, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect were conducted for studies that met the following criteria: (1) experimental studies involving athletes that underwent randomized control trial; (2) availability of HRV BFB as a treatment compared with a control (CON)/placebo (PLA); (3) any pre and post HRV variable and/or breathing frequency as dependent variable/s; and, (4) peer-reviewed articles written in English. Four out of 660 studies involving 115 athletes (25 females and 90 males) ages 16–30 years old were assessed in this review. Preliminary findings suggest the promising ability of HRV BFB to improve respiratory mechanics in athlete population. More work is needed to determine the autonomic modulatory effect of HRV BFB in athletes.

Download Full-text

Can Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Improve Athletic Performance? A Systematic Review

Journal of Human Kinetics ◽

10.2478/hukin-2020-0004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 73 (1) ◽

pp. 103-114

Author(s):

Jeffrey Cayaban Pagaduan ◽

Yung-Sheng Chen ◽

James William Fell ◽

Sam Shi Xuan Wu

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Athletic Performance ◽

Academic Research ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Eligibility Criteria ◽

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback ◽

Dance Training ◽

Randomized Control

AbstractThis systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effect of heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV BFB) on performance of athletes. Six electronic databases (Springerlink, SportDiscus, Web of Science, PROQUEST Academic Research Library, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect) and article references were searched. Eligibility criteria were: 1. experimental studies involving athletes randomly allocated among groups (randomized control trial); 2. availability of HRV BFB as a treatment compared to a control condition (CON) that involves regular sport/dance training, a placebo (PLA) or other methods of BFB; 3. performance-related variables such as a dependent index; and, 4. peer-reviewed articles written in English. Out of 660 articles, six studies were included in the systematic review which involved 187 athletes (females: n = 89; males n = 98). Six studies compared HRV BFB with a CON, three studies compared HRV BFB with a PLA, and two studies differentiated HRV BFB with other methods of BFB. Findings support HRV BFB as a potential intervention to improve fine and gross motor function in athletes.

Download Full-text

Correction to: Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Improves Emotional and Physical Health and Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis

Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback ◽

10.1007/s10484-021-09526-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Paul Lehrer ◽

Karenjot Kaur ◽

Agratta Sharma ◽

Khushbu Shah ◽

Robert Huseby ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Physical Health ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback ◽

And Performance

Download Full-text

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Improves Emotional and Physical Health and Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis

Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback ◽

10.1007/s10484-020-09466-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 109-129 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Paul Lehrer ◽

Karenjot Kaur ◽

Agratta Sharma ◽

Khushbu Shah ◽

Robert Huseby ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Physical Health ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback ◽

And Performance

Download Full-text

Heart rate variability as a strain indicator for psychological stress for emergency physicians during work and alert intervention: a systematic review

Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology ◽

10.1186/s12995-021-00313-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Beatrice Thielmann ◽

Robert Pohl ◽

Irina Böckelmann

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Systematic Reviews ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Emergency Physicians ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Objective Monitoring ◽

Prisma Statement ◽

Health Studies

Abstract Background The workloads of emergency physicians are severe. The prevalence of burnout among emergency physicians is higher than with other physicians or compared to the general population. The analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) is a valid method for objective monitoring of workload. The aim of this paper is to systematically evaluate the literature on heart rate variability as an objective indicator for mental stress of emergency physicians. Methods A systematic literature review examining heart rate variability of emergency physicians in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement for reporting systematic reviews was performed. PubMed, Ovid, Cochrane Libary, Scopus, and Web of Science electronic databases were used. The methodological quality was evaluated by using a modified STARD for HRV. Results Two studies matched the inclusion criteria by using HRV between alert intervention and two other studies were considered that used HRV in other question areas. It showed an adaptation of HRV under stress. The studies were not comparable. Conclusions There is a need for occupational health studies that examine strains and stress of emergency physicians. The well-established parasympathetic mediated HRV parameters seem to be suitable parameters to objectify the stress.

Download Full-text

Effect of Acupuncture on Heart Rate Variability: A Systematic Review

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2014/819871 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-19 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Joanne W. Y. Chung ◽

Vincent C. M. Yan ◽

Hongwei Zhang

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

High Frequency ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Keyword Search ◽

Data Extraction ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Control Group

Aim.To summarize all relevant trials and critically evaluate the effect of acupuncture on heart rate variability (HRV).Method.This was a systematic review with meta-analysis. Keyword search was conducted in 7 databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Data extraction and risk of bias were done.Results.Fourteen included studies showed a decreasing effect of acupuncture on low frequency (LF) and low frequency to high frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio) of HRV for nonhealthy subjects and on normalized low frequency (LF norm) for healthy subjects. The overall effect was in favour of the sham/control group for high frequency (HF) in nonhealthy subjects and for normalized high frequency (HF norm) in healthy subjects. Significant decreasing effect on HF and LF/HF ratio of HRV when acupuncture was performed on ST36 among healthy subjects and PC6 among both healthy and nonhealthy subjects, respectively.Discussion.This study partially supports the possible effect of acupuncture in modulating the LF of HRV in both healthy and nonhealthy subjects, while previous review reported that acupuncture did not have any convincing effect on HRV in healthy subjects. More published work is needed in this area to determine if HRV can be an indicator of the therapeutic effect of acupuncture.

Download Full-text