The resting-state pulse-respiration quotient of humans: lognormally distributed and centred around a value of four

The pulse-respiration quotient (heart rate divided by the respiration rate, PRQ = HR/RR) is a parameter capturing the complex state of cardiorespiratory interactions. We analysed 482 single PRQ values obtained from measurement on 134 healthy adult subjects (49 men, 85 women, age: 24.7 ± 3.4, range: 20–46 years) during rest. We found that the distribution of PRQ values (i) has a global maximum at a…