Abstract: Objective: To investigate the characteristics of short-term heart rate variability(HRV) in healthy college students.Methods: The electrocardiogram data were recorded with a portable electrocardiogram recorder in 410 college students,the HRV parameters in differentn gender were analyzed by time-domain,frequency-domain and Poincaré scatterplot analysis,respectively.Results: In the time-domain parameters,the values of mean R-R intervals,standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals,and root mean square of the successive differences of normal-to-normal intervals in females were lower than those in males(P<0.05 to P<0.01).In the frequency-domain parameters,the low frequency power(LF),high frequency power(HF),and total power in females were lower than in males(P<0.05 to P<0.01).There were no significant gender differences of these values including very low frequency power,normalized LF,normalized HF,and LF/HF ratio(P>0.05).In the Poincaré plot parameters,the values of width and length were lower in females than in males(P<0.05).Conclusions: In healthy college students,gender exerts the significant effects on HRV time-domain parameters,some frequency-domain parameters and Poincaré scatterplot parameters.The results can provide a statistical reference for further basic and clinical application research.