Pulse Rate Variability From Wearable Wristwatches as a Surrogate for Heart Rate Variability? We Think Not Yet


Journal article


Aditya A. Shanghavi, Jeevan Jayasuriya, Yuxin Cai, Ranjana K. Mehta
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2025 Jul, p. 10711813251357929


Cite

Cite

APA   Click to copy
Shanghavi, A. A., Jayasuriya, J., Cai, Y., & Mehta, R. K. (2025). Pulse {Rate} {Variability} {From} {Wearable} {Wristwatches} as a {Surrogate} for {Heart} {Rate} {Variability}? {We} {Think} {Not} {Yet}. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 10711813251357929. https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813251357929


Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Shanghavi, Aditya A., Jeevan Jayasuriya, Yuxin Cai, and Ranjana K. Mehta. “Pulse {Rate} {Variability} {From} {Wearable} {Wristwatches} as a {Surrogate} for {Heart} {Rate} {Variability}? {We} {Think} {Not} {Yet}.” Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (July 2025): 10711813251357929.


MLA   Click to copy
Shanghavi, Aditya A., et al. “Pulse {Rate} {Variability} {From} {Wearable} {Wristwatches} as a {Surrogate} for {Heart} {Rate} {Variability}? {We} {Think} {Not} {Yet}.” Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, July 2025, p. 10711813251357929, doi:10.1177/10711813251357929.


BibTeX   Click to copy

@article{shanghavi2025a,
  title = {Pulse {Rate} {Variability} {From} {Wearable} {Wristwatches} as a {Surrogate} for {Heart} {Rate} {Variability}? {We} {Think} {Not} {Yet}},
  year = {2025},
  month = jul,
  journal = {Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting},
  pages = {10711813251357929},
  doi = {10.1177/10711813251357929},
  author = {Shanghavi, Aditya A. and Jayasuriya, Jeevan and Cai, Yuxin and Mehta, Ranjana K.},
  month_numeric = {7}
}

Abstract

This study assessed the reliability of pulse rate variability (PRV) from wrist worn photoplethysmography (PPG) as a substitute for heart rate variability (HRV) measured via electrocardiography (ECG), across tasks with varying loads and ambulation. Twenty-four healthy adults completed 13 sensorimotor tasks before and after a cognitive fatigue protocol. HRV and PRV were calculated using time domain metrics from filtered ECG and PPG signals. Results showed poor agreement between PRV and HRV in all tasks, with significant differences in 11 of 13 conditions. These findings highlight the limitations of PRV from wrist worn devices as a substitute for ECG based HRV in real world assessments of cardiac variability. Future work should focus on better noise reduction techniques, improved sensor placement, and longer recordings to support spectral analysis, as well as larger sample sizes to clarify when PRV can reliably approximate HRV.