Validation of a Polar® human heart rate monitor for measuring heart rate and heart rate variability in adult dogs under stationary conditions

Heart rate variability (HRV) is considered to be a measure of autonomic regulation of cardiac activity for assessing stress and welfare in animals. Polar (R) human heart rate monitors are frequently used in animal studies to measure HRV and have been validated for this use in cows, pigs, and horses. Although Polar (R) monitors have been used in canine research to measure cardiac activity, we know of no studies that have tested its validity in dogs. Our objectives were as follows: (1) to collect interbeat interval (IBI) data while simultaneously using a Polar (R) heart rate monitor and an electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor in awake healthy clogs under stationary conditions; (2) to compare Polar (R) data with ECG data and examine whether any errors occurred in the Polar (R) data; and (3) to assess the validity of these Polar (R) data for recording time- and frequency-domain HRV data in dogs. IBI data from the Polar (R) RS800CX monitor and a telemetric ECG monitor, the Televet 100, were recorded simultaneously for 5 continuous minutes in 10 adult beagles. The Polar (R) data were compared with the ECG data to identify possible interbeat anomalies, such as those previously identified in pigs and horses. Statistical comparisons for a variety of time and frequency domain parameters (i.e., mean heart rate [ms], mean IBI [ms], R-R max [ms], R-R min [ms], standard deviation, total variance [ms(2)], and root mean square of successive differences) were performed. Time and frequency domain parameters from the Polar (R) data were not significantly different from ECG data. The mean heart rate from the Polar (R) data was 123.98 bpm (range: 101.57-138.35 bpm) and from ECG data was 123.33 bpm (range: 101.57-135.08 bpm). Bland-Altman analysis was used to measure the level of agreement between the 2 data sets. The mean difference between ECG and Polar (R) data was 0.42 ms (limits of agreement: - 126.76 to 127.60 ms); more than 95% of the differences fell between these limits. We conclude that the Polar (R) RS800CX digital R-R heart rate monitor is a promising instrument to reliably measure HRV in dogs under stationary conditions. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.