Age and Gender Dependency of Complexity Measures of Short-Term Heart Rate Time Series

In the recent years, nonlinear complexity analysis of heart rate dynamics was increasingly applied improving the predictability of different diseases and related severity levels and/or risks. A limitation of short-term heart rate variability analysis is the sparse availability of studies providing statistically relevant values for nonlinear complexity indices from healthy subjects. Furthermore, most studies in this field neglected to consider influencing effects of age and gender on complexity indices. In this chapter, both the change of heart rate complexity with aging and the gender influence on complexity measures of short-term heart rate time series are presented essentially based on the results of two representative studies–the KORA S4 study (healthy subjects) and the MUSIC2 study (heart failure patients).