The aim of this special edition is to bring awareness of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) to the occupational therapy community, platform emerging research in occupational therapy, and most importantly offer clinical guidelines to integrate POTS into occupational therapy practice. POTS is a multisystem autonomic disorder characterized by both cardiac and non-cardiac symptoms that affect overall functioning. Symptoms associated with orthostatic intolerance include tachycardia, palpitations, chest discomfort, and lightheadedness. The diagnostic criteria include an excessive increase in heart rate (≥30 beats per minute in adults or ≥40 bpm for adolescents) within 10 minutes of positional change (standing or upright head tilt) in the absence of meeting criteria for orthostatic hypotension (sustained decrease in blood pressure of ≥20mm Hg systolic or >10mm Hg diastolic) or other cause for sinus tachycardia (Vernino et al., 2021). In addition to the symptoms occurring with positional changes, individuals with POTS often experience headaches, fatigue, pre-syncope or syncope, temperature intolerance, sleep disturbance, exercise intolerance neurocognitive impairment, gastrointestinal issues, and bladder dysfunction (Raj et al., 2020).
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