A web-based surveillance system on adolescents' lifestyles and obesity prevention: ASSO-FTB preliminary findings. The ASSO Project

Margherita Raccuglia, Garden Tabacchi, Ewan Thomas, Davide Filingeri, Caterina Mammina, Monèm Jemni, Antonino Bianco, Antonio Palma

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

Aim: The purpose was to investigate the relationship between Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and performance in players of a basketball team during playoffs. HRV has become the conventionally accepted term to describe variations of both instantaneous heart rate and R-R intervals (Task Force, 1996). The cardiovascular system is mostly controlled by autonomic regulation through the activity of sympathetic and parasym-pathetic pathways of the autonomic nervous system. Analysis of HRV permits insight in this control mechanism. It can be easily determined from ECG recording resulting in time series (R-R intervals) that are usually analyzed in the time and frequency domains (Aubert, Seps, & Beckers, 2003). In particular, High Frequency (HF) power, derived from a frequency domain analysis, is considered to be reasonably linked to va-gal activity (Malliani, 1999; Task Force, 1996). Methods: Participants were 11 basketball D-level players aged 19-26 years (M = 21.9, SD = 3.1) involved in the playoff phase of the competitive season, but only 7 athletes completed the data collection due to injuries. HRV monitoring lasted seven weeks and was conducted in a silent room of training facilities in the morning of the match day. HRV was computed from 10 minutes of resting electrocardiogram recorded via BioHarness, using ADInstruments HRV Module, and the data were transformed into their natural logarithm (Ln), because of skewed distribution. Athletes' performance was statistically calculated by the team technical staff throughout every match using the procedure developed by the Italian Basket Federation. Results: Stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to test if the HRV indexes in the frequency domain (VLF, LF and HF) significantly predicted participants' level of performance. Regression analysis results showed that the HF accounted for the 15% of the variance, R2=.15, F(1,47)=5.22, p
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes

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