Polar technology in COVID-19 studies

Altogether, seven COVID-19 pandemic related studies were published in 2020 using Polar  technology - each coming from study groups in different countries: Germany, United Arab Emirates and Brazil, Italy, Canada, Hungary, Switzerland and France and Hong Kong. Both sportsmen and active individuals, as well as larger populations that included both men and women were studied.

In a study by Zinner et al. 2020, a key finding was that the pandemic caused changes in the training regimen amongst kayakers and canoeists. Their overall training volume decreased and training sessions were shorter. Additionally, strength training and intensity of training increased and sportsmen slept longer. The product used in this study was Polar M430.

The effects of using a face mask on respiratory systems were studied in three studies (Perna et al. 2020, Shaw et al. 2020 and Wong et al 2020). In these studies, for example, H10 was used to detect heart rate. In a training study on women (Szovak et aI.2020), the FT7 was used, and a positive impact of training on sleep disturbances was found. In a population study (Bourdillon et al. 2020), heart rate variability (HRV) was studied during lockdown. Changes in HRV were in line with subjective well-being responses. H7 was found to be a useful tool to measure HRV.

Study protocol in a multicenter longitudinal study that is ongoing (Al Tunaiji et al. 2020) was also reported. The study aims to research the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial, cardiovascular and immune markers amongst healthcare professionals in hospitals in the United Arab Emirates. Polar Team Pro and M430 are being used.

All study references cited in this text can be found from Polar Research Library.