Exercise dose–response relationship with heart rate variability in individuals with overweight and obesity: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

INTRODUCTION: Obesity is a chronic relapsing disease process and serious public health concern that can lead to chronic diseases, medical complications and a higher risk of disability. Another significant feature of obesity is dysfunction in cardiac autonomic function, which leads to changes in parasympathetic and sympathetic regulation, which can be measured using heart rate variability (HRV). The objective of this review is to estimate the extent to which exercise doses impacts on HRV among individuals living with overweight and obesity class I and II. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A systematic literature search will be performed using PubMed/Medline, Scopus, EMBASE, ProQuest, CINAHL, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library for articles dating from 1965 to December 2021. Inclusion criteria include studies designed as parallel-arm randomised trials, enrolling adolescent and adult individuals with overweight (body mass index, BMI≥25 to ≤29.9) and obesity (class I BMI: 30–34.9 and class II BMI: 35–39.9) undergoing aerobic or resistance training or concurrent exercise training. For data synthesis, sensitivity analysis, subgroup analysis and risk of bias assessment, Stata V.13.0 software will be used. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Formal ethical approval is not required. This systematic review will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019104154.