Heart Rate Recovery After Exercise Is Excellent Predictor of Mortality

American Family Physician,  June 15, 2000  by Christopher R. Cole

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(American College of Cardiology) A decreased heart rate recovery (HRR) following graded treadmill exercise was found to be a powerful and independent predictor of mortality in healthy adults enrolled in the Lipid Research Clinic Prevalence Study. A total of 5,234 patients without heart failure, coronary or vascular disease, and rhythm disturbances, and who were not on beta blockers or digoxin, underwent treadmill testing and were followed for 12 years.

The average age of the patients was 45 years, and 61 percent of patients were male. HRR was defined as the heart rate change from peak to two minutes recovery. An abnormal HRR (defined as 42 beats or fewer) was present in 1,719 (33 percent) of the patients. A total of 325 deaths occurred during the follow-up period. A low HRR was predictive of death in univariate analyses as well as after adjustment for age, gender, resting blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, cholesterol and medications.--CHRISTOPHER R. COLE, ET AL., Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio.

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