Assessment Of Resting Heart Rate And Its Association With Lifestyle Risk Factors Among Young Adults In A Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Resting heart rate (RHR) is a commonly used clinical marker of cardiovascular function and autonomic nervous system balance. It’s a measure of the balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity and is believed to be a simple measure of overall cardiovascular health (1). The elevated resting heart rate has been increasingly recognised as an independent predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in healthy and diseased subjects (2).
Lifestyle risk factors like physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary habits, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, poor sleep quality, and psychological stress have been suggested to be associated with autonomic regulation and increased resting heart rate (3). Young adults are increasingly experiencing these behavioural risk factors, driven by academic pressure, reliance on digital technology and sedentary lifestyle (4). Prolonged exposure to these elements might lead to early autonomic imbalance and increased cardiovascular risk even in apparently healthy subjects (5).