How accurate is HRV?

[SunsetRunner]

How accurate is the HRV in the health metrics?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[t.parker]

@SallyOz what is the methodology? Are this both overnight checks or spot checks? I'm curious. Giving chart with no details how test has been performed doesn't add much value to it.

[SallyOz]

@t.parkersorry it was a a follow on to my earlier comments about recording HRV on wrist wearables vs ECG chest strap. The chart shows my morning HRV score given by my Charge 5 and the HRV score given by my H10 chest strap 15 minutes later on the same day. Not only are the numbers poles apart they don’t even rise and fall in unison.

Furthermore the chest strap has far less variability. 

[Idk-247]

I must be already dead.. 🤷‍:female_sign:

[SallyOz]

@Idk-247 that's funny 🙂 I bought my husband a fitbit for Christmas (tall slim fit guy) ... his HRV hasn't gone over 11! He is still breathing.

[Shelly0872]

Hahhahaha me too
Seems like the readings have me dead everyday
Don’t pay attention to it bc it’ll scare the crap outta you

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[SallyOz]

@Shelly0872 I have a friend my age who was getting an acceptable 38 on her fitbite elite. I was getting an 11, rippling up to 22 and back down again. The variability got me researching HRV (prior to owning a Fitbit I didn’t know HRV was a ‘thing’). Realising the importance of HRV I decided to buy an ECG grade chest strap. I take an HRV reading on the chest strap every day and it’s quite stable (around 55). The number I get from Fitbit is more of a readiness score and usually reflects how rested I am. I think the Fitbit sleep data is good/reliable. The Fitbit HRV is not a medical HRV reading that you can compare to available HRV metrics across different demographics. When see 11 and data says I should be between 25 and 45 in my age group, it is disconcerting. You have to be prepared to do a lot of research to understand all of the data required to establish an accurate HRV score. A lot of people have neither the time nor the inclination to do that amount of research/reading. (I am a retired research analyst). I am still learning. 

[Solutiongirl]

Lmao! Ya
..still hover between 10 to 17...ugh.

[SallyOz]

My husband did 260 zone minutes yesterday and his is still 11 🙄😆

[Shelly0872]

Yep it sucks


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[Shelly0872]

Thank you 😊
Yes a lot of research and reading
But …. It should be accurate if they’re going to sell it for that purpose

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[SallyOz]

@Shelly0872 Whilst Fitbit make it clear their HRV should not be taken as medical advice and I can let that slide, as it comes with the standard Fitbit app, I think their ‘readiness score’ which people pay for as part of their ‘premium’ service should be reliable. Once you pay for something there is a different expectation. That readiness score relies on their HRV and I have received advice to ‘go hard’ and given a readiness of 100, when my heart rate monitor has given me a 3 (equal to 30 if using 1-100). That’s where it could get dangerous. Probably not with young athletes but with overweight or older people, misinformation could cause heart attacks. IMO"

[Shelly0872]

❤️

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[songsj]

Mine has been as low as 11 and as high as 24. Usually somewhere in the middle. I look at it but don't consider the data anything I can use.

[SunsetRunner]

My Versa 2 says No Data for BR, HRV and Skin Temperature. It does show RHR

[SallyOz]

Over 65 it should be between 25 and 45. It’s worth buying a chest strap and doing a morning HRV test. HRV is very powerful data in determining heart information. No data is better than inaccurate/poor data. I have a friend with a Fitbit elite getting a consistent 31 (she is 75). I am wondering if this low score (11!) is just the Charge 5?

[Shelly0872]

Probably just the 5
I have it too
I exercise 6-10 times a week and mine reads in the low 20s

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[SallyOz]

@Shelly0872 i think I feel doubly disappointed if a different model has better HRV capability. The Charge 5 was touted as the latest and greatest. I have bought 4 - one for each family member. No one is a getting a normal HRV. My boys are age 31 and 38. This must be widespread. I tried talking to the technical support group (twice) and was just told to reset the device and check for an app update. Nothing changed. Sigh. 

[Compendium]

In a lay understanding of hrv reading. HRV is a measurment on how calm or overactive your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system is. Your sympathetic nervous system is impacted by life stress or physical stress and triggers parasympathetic nervous system which controls autonomic functions like breathing, heart rate, and digestion to name a few. So if the HRV is low you are probably undergoing some type of stress, anxiety etc. It is a complexe measurment of an even more complexe system.

[Shelly0872]

That’s bull crap shut up !!!
How can you say that !!!
False information who ever you are


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[Compendium]

The information I gave is the science behing the hrv measurment,  from sources other than fitbit. Coupled with information on the 2 systems and how they are affected by stress. I was simply explaining what the measurement is and what affects it. For those who do care about the science behind the measurement, these two systems can also be affected by any nutrient deficiencies that cause tingling and numbness of hands and feet. So talk to yor doctor.