Heart rate and cardiovascular responses to commercial flights: relationships with physical fitness

Oliveira-Silva, Iransé, Leicht, Anthony S., Moraes, Milton R., Simões, Herbert G., Del Rosso, Sebastián, Córdova, Cláudio, and Boullosa, Daniel A. (2016) Heart rate and cardiovascular responses to commercial flights: relationships with physical fitness. Frontiers in Physiology, 7. 648. pp. 1-11.

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of physical fitness on cardiac autonomic control in passengers prior to, during and following commercial flights. Twenty-two, physically active men (36.4 +/- 6.4 years) undertook assessments of physical fitness followed by recordings of 24-h heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and blood pressure (BP) on a Control (no flight) and Experimental (flight) day. Recordings were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance for repeated measures with relationships between variables examined via Pearson product moment correlation coefficients. Compared to the Control day, 24-h HR was significantly greater (>7%) and HRV measures (5-39%) significantly lower on the Experimental day. During the 1-h flight, HR (24%), and BP (6%) were increased while measures of HRV (26-45%) were reduced. Absolute values of HRV during the Experimental day and relative changes in HRV measures (Control-Experimental) were significantly correlated with measures of aerobic fitness (r = 0.43 to 0.51;-0.53 to -0.52) and body composition (r = -0.63 to -0.43; 0.48-0.61). The current results demonstrated that short-term commercial flying significantly altered cardiovascular function including the reduction of parasympathetic modulations. Further, greater physical fitness and lower body fat composition were associated with greater cardiac autonomic control for passengers during flights. Enhanced physical fitness and leaner body composition may enable passengers to cope better with the cardiovascular stress and high allostatic load associated with air travel for enhanced passenger well-being.

Item ID: 47112
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1664-042X
Keywords: autonomic nervous system, blood pressure, cardiovascular reactivity, cardiovascular stress response, physical activity, exercise
Additional Information:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Funders: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)
Projects and Grants: CNPq productivity grant
Date Deposited: 25 Jan 2017 07:37
FoR Codes: 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4207 Sports science and exercise > 420702 Exercise physiology @ 100%
SEO Codes: 92 HEALTH > 9204 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) > 920408 Health Status (e.g. Indicators of Well-Being) @ 100%
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