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ECG artifacts and heart period variability: Don't miss a beat!

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2016

GARY G. BERNTSON  and
JEFFREY R. STOWELL
GARY G. BERNTSON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
JEFFREY R. STOWELL
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
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Abstract

The impact of artifacts on estimates of heart period variability were evaluated by modeling the effects of missed R-waves and spurious R-wave detections in actual and simulated heart period series. Results revealed that even a single artifact, occurring within a 128-s interbeat interval series, can impart substantial spurious variance into all commonly analyzed frequency bands, including that associated with respiratory sinus arrhythmia. In fact, the spurious variance introduced by a single artifact may be greater than that associated with true basal heart period variability and can far exceed typical effect sizes in psychophysiological studies. The effects of artifacts are not related to a specific analytical method and are apparent in both frequency and time domain analyses. Results emphasize the importance of artifact detection and resolution for studies of heart period variability.

Keywords

ArtifactsElectrocardiographyHeart period variabilityHeart rateRespiratory sinus arrhythmia
Type
BRIEF REPORT
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , January 1998 , pp. 127 - 132
Copyright
1998 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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