The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
Resting heart rate shows global variation across 76 WHO STEP countries (2002–2020) and South Asia Biobank cohorts, with country medians ranging 65–80 bpm.
- Why it matters: Surveillance needs simple, scalable biomarkers that reflect population cardiometabolic risk and can be tracked across regions and time.
- What they did: Using triplicate seated cuff measurements in 363,462 WHO participants and 203,524 South Asian participants, the study mapped RHR by region, time, sex, age, BMI, and physical activity, and tested regression links to accelerometer activity.
- The result: RHR is higher in women than men, rises with obesity and is lower with meeting activity recommendations, shows seasonal shifts in SAB (0.6–0.9 bpm higher in June–August), declines in men over repeated WHO surveys (-0.4 bpm/year), and adds 1–3% to explaining device-measured activity.
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.