Reference ranges for autonomic function tests in healthy Korean adults

Park, Kee Hong; Kim, Byoung Joon; Kang, Sa-Yoon; Oh, Sun-Young; Sohn, Eun Hee; Song, Kyeong-jin; Shin, Jin-Hong; Kang, Kyoung Hwa; Cho, Eun Bin; Jeong, Heejeong; Lee, Hyung; Kim, Hyun Ah; Kim, Rock Bum; Park, Ki-Jong

doi:2019.21.2.87

Ann Clin Neurophysiol > 2019 ;21(2) > Article
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Ann Clin Neurophysiol. 2019; 21(2): 87-93. Published online July 31, 2019. doi: https://doi.org/10.14253/acn.2019.21.2.87

Reference ranges for autonomic function tests in healthy Korean adults

, and Ki-Jong Park^7,10

¹Department of Neurology, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Korea
²Department of Neurology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
³Department of Neurology, Jeju National University College of Medicine, Jeju, Korea
⁴Department of Neurology, Chonbuk National University School of Medicine, Jeonju, Korea
⁵Department of Neurology, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea
⁶Department of Neurology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea
⁷Department of Neurology, Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital, Changwon, Korea
⁸Department of Neurology, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea
⁹Regional Cardiocerebrovascular Center, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Korea
¹⁰Department of Neurology, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju, Korea

Corresponding Author: Ki-Jong Park ,Tel: +82-55-214-3810, Fax: +82-55-214-3255, Email: pkjong@gnu.ac.kr

Received November 16, 2018 Revised: December 7, 2018 Accepted December 7, 2018

ABSTRACT

Background: The standardized autonomic function test has become widely available. However, there are no reference data for this test for the Korean population. This study explored reference data for sudomotor and cardiovagal function tests for the Korean population.
Methods: The sweat volume by quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test, heart-rate response to deep breathing (HRdb), expiration:inspiration (E:I) ratio, and Valsalva ratio (VR) were measured in 297 healthy Korean volunteers aged from 20 to 69 years. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effects of age, sex, and body mass index on these variables. The 2.5th, 5th, 10th, 90th, 95th, and 97.5th percentile values were obtained for each investigation.
Results: The sweat volume was higher in males than in females. The HRdb and E:I ratio were negatively correlated with age, and were higher in males than in females. The VR was negatively correlated with age, but it was not correlated with sex.
Conclusions: This study has provided data on the reference ranges for sudomotor and cardiovagal function tests in healthy Korean adults.

Key words: Autonomic nervous system; Reference range, Sweating; Parasympathetic nervous system