Classifying the questionnaire on self-reported autonomic regulation (aR)

• Published in: European journal of integrative medicine Vol. 1; no. 4; pp. 247 - 248
• Main Authors: Kröz, M., Reif, M., von Laue, H.B., Brauer, D., Zerm, R., Feder, G., Matthes, H., Girke, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier GmbH 01.12.2009
• ISSN: 1876-3820; 1876-3839
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eujim.2009.08.048

Our three-dimensional inventory of self-reported measures of autonomic regulation (aR) includes 18 items regarding autonomic functioning of rest/activity regulation, orthostatic-circulatory regulation and digestive regulation. aR is influenced by constitution, gender and age. It is rather stable in healthy people, yet acute and chronic diseases can reduce aR (loss of regulation). We present the results of a classification of the aR aiming for best separation of patients with various diagnoses from healthy controls. We used aR data from 3 own studies: (a) 21 breast (BC) and 7 colorectal (CRC) out of 57 cancer patients, and 50 healthy controls (C); (b) 41 BC and 25 CRC patients under chemotherapy; and (c) 81 BC, 39 CRC, 55 diabetic (D), 29 coronary disease (CD), 26 rheumatic disease (R) and 31M. Hashimoto (H) patients, and 106 C. For analysis, the different diseases were assigned to 2 groups called ‘high burden’ (BC, D, R, H: low constitutional aR/high loss of regulation) and ‘low burden’ (CRC, CD: high constitutional aR/low loss of regulation), and compared against C. We performed moving threshold cut-off analyses regarding the aR scale by iteratively categorizing the data into 4 classes and calculating respective, gender-stratified χ2 test for trend statistics with regard to their frequency distributions within the 3 groups. aR cut-off thresholds yielding maximum χ2 values were selected. Median (min.–max.) aR: C 43 (34–52), ‘low burden’ 43 (30–53), ‘high burden’ 40 (20–54). Cut-off analyses indicated medium aR with unclear loss of regulation or low constitutional aR starting at 46, and probable loss of aR at 39. aR values below 34 showed patient distribution patterns different from other classes with a higher ‘low burden’ proportion, which may indicate a very probable aR loss. The aR scale is a reliable questionnaire indicating probable loss of regulation below 34, suspected loss of aR from 39, unclear loss or lightly low constitutional aR from 40 to 47 and no constriction above 47. The possible qualitative differences between low constitutional aR and loss of aR demand further research.