Spontaneous Baroreflex Sensitivity: Sequence Method Estimate at Rest is Highly Correlated to Heart Rate Variability

Spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity is often quantified by the sequence method (SME). To determine whether SME at rest contains more information than heart rate variability (HRV), we reanalyzed 1828 beat-to-beat time series and their corresponding systolic blood pressure during resting conditions. We found a high correlation between short-term HRV and the SME of baroreflex sensitivity of r=0.89 (p<;0.001). We conclude that SME cannot reliably characterize the capacity of the arterial baroreceptors during resting conditions.