The number of very old individuals in the population is rapidly increasing. Previous studies have indicated that many factors known to be strongly associated with survival among middle-aged and elderly show no association among the oldest old. Resting heart rate (RHR) is associated with increased risk of death in the general population as well as in patients with various types of heart disease. The association between RHR and mortality in the very old is the subject of this report. The study population was identified in The Nationwide Danish 1905 Cohort Study (n = 1086) and comprised 854 subjects with a median age of 95.2 years (range 94.7–95.9), in whom RHR was measured by radial pulse palpation. Participants were followed until death through the civil registration system, and remaining lifespan after RHR measure was used as outcome. Participants were divided into six groups according to RHR (≤50, 51–60, 61–70, 71–80, 81–90 and ≥91) with the largest group used as the reference group (61–70 beats per minute (bpm)). Survival analyses using Cox’ proportional hazards models were performed to study the association between RHR and mortality. Median RHR was 68 bpm in males (IQR 62–76) and 70 bpm (IQR 64–78) in females. After stratifying both sexes into six groups according to RHR, we found no significant difference in remaining lifespan between groups in either males or females. No significantly increased risk was demonstrated in groups with higher RHR. In very old people, elevated RHR is not associated with increased mortality.

人口中非常老的人数正在迅速增加。先前的研究表明，许多已知与中年人和老年人的生存密切相关的因素显示，最年长的人与年龄没有关联。静息心率（RHR）与普通人群以及患有各种类型心脏病的患者死亡风险增加相关。RHR和非常老的死亡率之间的关联是本报告的主题。研究人群在全国范围内1905年的丹麦队列研究鉴定（ñ = 1086），由854名中位年龄为95.2岁（范围94.7–95.9）的受试者组成，其中RHR是通过pulse诊触诊测量的。随访参与者直至通过民事登记系统死亡，并将RHR测度后的剩余寿命用作结果。根据RHR（≤50、51-60、61-70、71-80、81-90和≥91）将参与者分为六组，最大的一组用作参考组（每分钟61-70次心跳（bpm） ））。使用Cox比例风险模型进行生存分析，以研究RHR与死亡率之间的关系。男性中位数RHR为68 bpm（IQR 62-76），女性中群RHR为70 bpm（IQR 64-78）。根据RHR将性别分为六组后，我们发现男性或女性在两组之间的剩余寿命没有显着差异。RHR较高的组未显示出明显增加的风险。在非常老的人群中，RHR升高与死亡率增加无关。