Finger pulse monitoring is a reliable and valid tool for measuring heart rate during exercise among adolescents in lab and school settings

Background: A finger pulse monitor offers multiple advantages for monitoring heart rate during exercise in comparison to chest worn monitors, including: enhanced testing efficiency; less invasive, particularly for vulnerable populations (e.g. children); and, reduced cost. The purpose of this study was to establish the test-retest reliability of a finger pulse device for monitoring heart rate during a 3-minute step test (3MST ₃₀ ) to estimate cardiorespiratory endurance in a lab and school setting, and to compare indices of reliability with a chest worn heart rate monitor. Methods: Participants (N= 29; male = 16; age: 15.83 ± .66) completed the 3MST ₃₀ on two occasions, in a lab setting (T1) and in a school setting (T2), one week apart. Participants wore a Braun® finger pulse monitor and a Polar® H7 chest strap heart rate monitor. Heart rate in beats per minute (BPM) was recorded on both devices at 1-minute, 2-minutes, 3-minutes, and one minute following test completion. Equivalence testing was used to analyse the data for differences between the two devices by using the TOSTER R package. Results: Absolute mean differences between devices and settings were clinically insignificant, with the smallest variance at the 1-minute post recording (finger pulse p = .012; chest strap = .041). There were no statistically significant differences in heart rate measurement between settings. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that finger pulse monitoring is a reliable and valid tool for measuring heart rate during sub-maximal exercise in lab and school settings.