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Assessment of autonomic symptoms in a medically complex, urban patient population

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Abstract

Purpose

Urban, minority communities are disproportionately affected by the chronic diseases associated with autonomic neuropathy; however validated measures of autonomic symptoms have not been studied in these complex populations. We sought to validate the Autonomic Symptom Profile (ASP) in a low income, medically complex, urban patient population.

Methods

Ninety-seven adults were recruited from the outpatient neurology clinic of an academic medical center serving the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Participants completed the ASP, and underwent a comprehensive neurologic examination, and a standardized battery of autonomic function tests (quantitative sweat testing, heart rate response to deep breathing (HRDB), Valsalva maneuver, and tilt table). Burden of chronic disease was summarized using the Charlson co-morbidity index (CCI), and detailed medication history was obtained.

Results

The ASP displayed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .88), even among lower literacy participants. In univariate analyses, the ASP was correlated with HRDB (r = −.301, p = .002), a marker of cardiac autonomic neuropathy, with the CCI (r = .37, p < .001), and with use of medications with autonomic effects [t(95) = −2.13, p = .036]. However, in multivariate analysis, only the CCI remained significant.

Conclusions

In this urban, predominantly minority patient population, the symptoms captured by the ASP were more closely associated with burden of medical disease than with autonomic dysfunction. Due to this lack of specificity, it is essential that results from autonomic questionnaires be interpreted in the context of the neurologic history and exam, burden of co-morbid illness and medications, and most importantly autonomic function tests.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Phillip Low, MD and the faculty and staff of the autonomic laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN for providing the Autonomic Symptom Profile and instruction on its use.

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Correspondence to Jessica Robinson-Papp.

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Conflict of interest

This work was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke (K23 NS066789, PI: Robinson-Papp). The authors have no relevant conflicts of interest to report.

Ethical standards

All procedures were performed according to a protocol approved by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Institutional Review Board, and are in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. All participants provided written informed consent.

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Robinson-Papp, J., Sharma, S.K., George, M.C. et al. Assessment of autonomic symptoms in a medically complex, urban patient population. Clin Auton Res 27, 25–29 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-016-0384-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-016-0384-4

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