Evaluation Method of the Autonomic Function of Elderies in Response to the Postural Change

Abstract

The number of the patients of the circulatory disease is increasing by increase in elderies population. The elderies has many chances to test the autonomic function because of the diagnosis or treatment of the circulatory disease. One of the testing method of the autonomic function is to analyze the heart rate variability due to postural change. The postural change involves the risk of the syncope. In the standing posture, the workload is large for the elderies. In this paper, the evaluation method of the autonomic function with a light workload is proposed for the elderies. The initial heart rate increase on standing is evaluated using the impulse response function deriving from the heart rate during supine position. The autonomic function during standing following a supine is evaluated by the heart rate variability during standing following a sitting. We propose a new method in comparison with the head-up-tilt test. The parameters of the autonomic function derived from our method are highly correlated to those derived from the head-up-tilt test. Our method is adequate for evaluation of the autonomic function of the elderies.