BACKGROUND : The prevalence of autonomic nervous system disorders is increasing due to the complications of chronic illnesses that become more severe with age. The Composite Autonomic Symptom Score-31 (COMPASS-31) is a questionnaire that assesses autonomic function and has been utilized globally. This study aimed to conduct cultural adaptation and validation of the COMPASS-31 in Indonesia, particularly for the elderly. METHODS : This cross-sectional study involved elderly individuals aged 60 years and older. The process included translation, cultural adaptation, back-translation, and reliability tests. The COMPASS-31 questionnaire was translated from English to Indonesian by a certified translator, a native Indonesian speaker without medical background. A panel of experts comprising a neurologist, a gerontologist, and a physiologist discussed the translated questionnaire and made cultural adaptations. Facial and content validity tests were conducted on 11 elderly individuals. The inputs for revision are discussed by the expert panel. The questionnaire was then back-translated into English by a native English speaker, professional translator, without a medical background. The questionnaire was checked for reliability in 52 elderly subjects. Reliability testing was conducted separately for the binomial and polynomial questions of the COMPASS-31 questionnaire. RESULTS : The reliability test yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.729 for the binomial questions and 0.722 for the polynomial questions, indicating high reliability. CONCLUSIONS The Indonesian version of COMPASS-31 questionnaire is a valid and reliable symptom assessment tool for use in the elderly.
aging ; autonomic disorders ; autonomic nervous system diseases ; surveys and questionnaires

Autonomic disturbances often occur in patients with acute cerebrovascular disease due to damage of the central autonomic network. We summarize the structures of the central autonomic network and the clinical tests used to evaluate the functions of the autonomic nervous system. We review the clinical and experimental findings as well as management strategies of post-stroke autonomic disturbances including electrocardiographic changes, cardiac arrhythmias, myocardial damage, thermoregulatory dysfunction, gastrointestinal dysfunction, urinary incontinence, sexual disorders, and hyperglycemia. The occurrence of autonomic disturbances has been associated with poor outcomes in stroke patients. Autonomic nervous system modulation appears to be an emerging therapeutic strategy for stroke management in addition to treatments for sensorimotor dysfunction.
Acute Disease ; Animals ; Autonomic Nervous System ; physiopathology ; Cerebrovascular Disorders ; complications ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Nerve Net ; injuries ; Sensorimotor Cortex ; physiopathology ; Stroke ; physiopathology

BACKGROUND: Chronic nonspecific symptoms attributed to indoor nonindustrial work environments are common and may cause disability, but the medical nature of this disability is unclear. The aim was to medically characterize the disability manifested by chronic, recurrent symptoms and restrictions to work participation attributed to low-level indoor pollutants at workplace and whether the condition shares features with idiopathic environmental intolerance. METHODS: We investigated 12 patients with indoor air–related work disability. The examinations included somatic, psychological, and psychiatric evaluations as well as investigations of the autonomic nervous system, cortisol measurements, lung function, and allergy tests. We evaluated well-being, health, disability, insomnia, pain, anxiety, depression, and burnout via questionnaires. RESULTS: The mean symptom history was 10.5 years; for disabling symptoms, 2.7 years. Eleven patients reported reactions triggered mainly by indoor molds, one by fragrances only. Ten reported sensitivity to odorous chemicals, and three, electric devices. Nearly all had co-occurrent somatic and psychiatric diagnoses and signs of pain, insomnia, burnout, and/or elevated sympathetic responses. Avoiding certain environments had led to restrictions in several life areas. On self-assessment scales, disability showed higher severity and anxiety showed lower severity than in physician assessments. CONCLUSION: No medical cause was found to explain the disability. Findings support that the condition is a form of idiopathic environmental intolerance and belongs to functional somatic syndromes. Instead of endless avoidance, rehabilitation approaches of functional somatic syndromes are applicable.
Anxiety ; Autonomic Nervous System ; Depression ; Disability Evaluation ; Fungi ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; Hypersensitivity ; Lung ; Multiple Chemical Sensitivity ; Odors ; Rehabilitation ; Self-Assessment ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Weights and Measures

Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects beat-to-beat variability in the heart rate due to the dynamic interplay of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. HRV is considered an index of the functional status of the autonomic nervous system. A decrease in HRV is thus observed in individuals with autonomic dysfunction. Abnormal HRV has been reported in a range of mental disorders. In this review, we give an overview of HRV in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), schizophrenia, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), one of whose core symptoms is cognitive dysfunction. The association between HRV and cognitive function is highlighted in this review. This review consists of three main sections. In the first section, we examine how HRV in patients with MDD, schizophrenia, and PTSD is characterized, and how it is different when compared to that in healthy controls. In the second section, beyond the heart itself, we discuss the intimate connection between the heart and the brain, focusing on how HRV interacts with quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) in the context of physiological changes in the sleep cycle. Lastly, we finish the review with the examination of the association between HRV and cognitive function. The overall findings indicate that the reduction in HRV is one of main manifestations in MDD, schizophrenia, and PTSD, and also more generally HRV is closely linked to the change in qEEG and also to individual differences in cognitive performance.
Autonomic Nervous System ; Brain ; Cognition ; Depressive Disorder, Major ; Electroencephalography ; Heart Rate ; Heart ; Humans ; Individuality ; Mental Disorders ; Parasympathetic Nervous System ; Schizophrenia ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

BACKGROUND: Although orthostatic hypotension (OH) and cognitive impairment (CI) are common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), the relationship between OH and CI remains to be clarified. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between OH and CI in PD. METHODS: We recruited 192 patients who were diagnosed as PD based on the UK Brain Bank diagnostic criteria. The Hoehn & Yahr stages were ranged I to III and patients underwent extensive clinical evaluation, including brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for cerebral white matter hyperintensity (WMH), tilt table test, the Korean version of Montreal Cognitive Assessments and the Korean version of Mini-Mental Status Examination in one month from the first clinic visit. The participants were divided into two groups according to the presence of OH (OH+ vs. OH−) and cognitive function (cognitive normal, CN vs. CI), respectively. RESULTS: Significant relationship between OH and cognitive function (p=0.04) was found in our patients. The patients with OH+ had higher risk of CI by 2.6 times than that of OH+ patients. Maximum heart rate change during tilt table test was correlated with cognitive function and white matter changes, whereas blood pressure change during tilt table test showed no correlation with those parameters. CONCLUSIONS: There was significant relationship between OH and CI in PD. Therefore, PD patients with either symptom may need periodic evaluation and proper management for OH and cognitive functions.
Ambulatory Care ; Autonomic Nervous System ; Blood Pressure ; Brain ; Cognition Disorders ; Cognition ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hypotension, Orthostatic ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Parkinson Disease ; Tilt-Table Test ; White Matter

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), a noninvasive optical method, utilizes the characteristic absorption spectra of hemoglobin in the near-infrared range to provide information on cerebral hemodynamic changes in various clinical situations. NIRS monitoring have been used mainly to detect reduced perfusion of the brain during orthostatic stress for three common forms of orthostatic intolerance (OI); orthostatic hypotension, neurally mediated syncope, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Autonomic function testing is an important diagnostic test to assess their autonomic nervous systems for patients with symptom of OI. However, these techniques cannot measure dynamic changes in cerebral blood flow. There are many experimentations about study of NIRS to reveal the pathophysiology of patients with OI. Research using NIRS in other neurologic diseases (stroke, epilepsy and migraine) are ongoing. NIRS have been experimentally used in all stages of stroke and may complement the established diagnostic and monitoring tools. NIRS also provide pathophysiological approach during rehabilitation and secondary prevention of stroke. The hemodynamic response to seizure has long been a topic for discussion in association with the neuronal damage resulting from convulsion. One critical issue when unpredictable events are to be detected is how continuous NIRS data are analyzed. Besides, NIRS studies targeting pathophysiological aspects of migraine may contribute to a deeper understanding of mechanisms relating to aura of migraine. NIRS monitoring may play an important role to trend regional hemodynamic distribution of flow in real time and also highlights the pathophysiology and management of not only patients with OI symptoms but also those with various neurologic diseases.
Absorption ; Autonomic Nervous System ; Brain ; Cerebrovascular Circulation ; Complement System Proteins ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Epilepsy ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hypotension, Orthostatic ; Methods ; Migraine Disorders ; Nervous System Diseases* ; Neurons ; Orthostatic Intolerance* ; Perfusion ; Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome ; Rehabilitation ; Secondary Prevention ; Seizures ; Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared* ; Spectrum Analysis ; Stroke ; Syncope

Cluster headache (CH) is a rare underdiagnosed primary headache disorder with very severe unilateral pain and autonomic symptoms. Clinical characteristics of Korean patients with CH have not yet been reported. We analyzed the clinical features of CH patients from 11 university hospitals in Korea. Among a total of 200 patients with CH, only 1 patient had chronic CH. The average age of CH patients was 38.1 ± 8.9 years (range 19–60 years) and the average age of onset was 30.7 ± 10.3 years (range 10–57 years). The male-to-female ratio was 7:1 (2.9:1 among teen-onset and 11.7:1 among twenties-onset). Pain was very severe at 9.3 ± 1.0 on the visual analogue scale. The average duration of each attack was 100.6 ± 55.6 minutes and a bout of CH lasted 6.5 ± 4.5 weeks. Autonomic symptoms were present in 93.5% and restlessness or agitation was present in 43.5% of patients. Patients suffered 3.0 ± 3.5 (range 1–25) bouts over 7.3 ± 6.7 (range 1–30) years. Diurnal periodicity and season propensity were present in 68.5% and 44.0% of patients, respectively. There were no sex differences in associated symptoms or diurnal and seasonal periodicity. Korean CH patients had a high male-to-female ratio, relatively short bout duration, and low proportion of chronic CH, unlike CH patients in Western countries.
Age of Onset ; Asia ; Cluster Headache* ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Dihydroergotamine ; Headache Disorders, Primary ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Korea* ; Periodicity ; Psychomotor Agitation ; Seasons ; Sex Characteristics ; Sex Ratio ; Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias

The pupillary size and movement are controlled dynamically by the autonomic nervous system; the parasympathetic system constricts the iris, while the sympathetic system dilates the iris. Under normal conditions, these constrictions and dilations occur identically in both eyes. Asymmetry in the pupillomotor neural input or output leads to impaired pupillary movement on one side and an unequal pupil size between both eyes. Anisocoria is one of the most common signs in neuro-ophthalmology, and the neurological disorders that frequently cause anisocoria include serious diseases, such as vascular dissection, fistula, and aneurysm. A careful history and examination can identify and localize pupillary disorders and provide a guide for appropriate evaluations.
Aneurysm ; Anisocoria ; Autonomic Nervous System ; Constriction ; Fistula ; Horner Syndrome ; Iris ; Nervous System Diseases ; Pupil ; Pupil Disorders ; Tonic Pupil

The pupillary size and movement are controlled dynamically by the autonomic nervous system; the parasympathetic system constricts the iris, while the sympathetic system dilates the iris. Under normal conditions, these constrictions and dilations occur identically in both eyes. Asymmetry in the pupillomotor neural input or output leads to impaired pupillary movement on one side and an unequal pupil size between both eyes. Anisocoria is one of the most common signs in neuro-ophthalmology, and the neurological disorders that frequently cause anisocoria include serious diseases, such as vascular dissection, fistula, and aneurysm. A careful history and examination can identify and localize pupillary disorders and provide a guide for appropriate evaluations.
Aneurysm ; Anisocoria ; Autonomic Nervous System ; Constriction ; Fistula ; Horner Syndrome ; Iris ; Nervous System Diseases ; Pupil ; Pupil Disorders ; Tonic Pupil

OBJECTIVES: Somatic symptoms after the exposure of psychological trauma frequently developed. However, the somatic symptoms are not covered under the diagnostic criteria of posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD) in detail, although they are often associated with social and occupational functioning and patient-doctor relationships. The aim of this article is to highlight the potential mechanisms, the common manifestations, and the treatment of the somatic symptoms. METHODS: This article studied the somatic symptoms searched using academic search engines like PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, KoreaMed and KISS from the earliest available date of indexing to March 31, 2016. RESULTS: The mechanism of somatic symptoms after the exposure was described as psychological and physiological aspects. Psychological mechanism consisted of psychodynamic theory, cognitive behavioral theory, and others. Physiological mechanism involved changes in neuroendocrine and immune system, autonomic nervous system and central nervous system. Somatization associated with psychological trauma manifested various health conditions on head and neck, chest, abdominal, musculoskeletal, and dermatological and immune system. Few studies described the standardization of treatment for the somatic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians and disaster behavioral health providers should think of the accompanying somatic symptoms during intervention of psychological trauma and PTSD. Further studies are needed on the somatic symptoms seen in psychological trauma and PTSD.
Abstracting and Indexing as Topic ; Autonomic Nervous System ; Central Nervous System ; Disasters ; Head ; Immune System ; Neck ; Psychological Trauma* ; Search Engine ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; Thorax