The current normal values for heart rate and respiration for children are inaccurate and do not agree with the results of clinical trials, reports The Lancet.
Increased heart rate and breathing are often symptoms of an illness. Treatment decisions are made based on the norms of these physiological parameters. Meanwhile, the analysis of data from 69 studies, from 143 346 children, showed that in half of healthy XNUMX-year-olds, the parameters deviate from what is considered normal.
As explained by the scientists who conducted the analysis, values once considered normal were simply passed down by doctors from generation to generation, without any practical verification.
Establishing norms is so difficult that the typical values change with age – while the heart of a monthly baby beats an average of 145 times per minute, the heart of a two-year-old – 113 times.
The new tables of correct parameters developed by the authors of the analyzes are to improve the situation.