Cardiac Autonomic Dysfunction in Apparently Healthy young Adults in Nigeria

摘要

Assessment of Cardiac Autonomic Function (CAF) is often not carried out among apparently healthy young individuals. This study evaluated the pattern and prevalence of cardiac autonomic dysfunction among apparently healthy young adults in Ile- Ife, Nigeria. A total of 204 apparently healthy young adults, 98 (48%) males while 106 (52%) females) aged between 18-40 years with mean age of 22.72 - 4.86 years who were residents of Ile-Ife participated in this study. Each participant was assessed with a battery of five tests of cardiac autonomic function; Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) response to change of posture (supine to erect), Diastolic Blood Pressure(DBP) response to sustained handgrip at 30% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), heart rate responses to Valsalva manoeuvre, deep breathing and change of posture. The cardiac autonomic status for each individual was classified into normal, sympathetic abnormality, parasympathetic abnormality or combined abnormalities (sympathetic and parasympathetic) depending on the value of the autonomic cardiovascular indices derived from the five tests. In the overall cardiac autonomic function assessment of the participants, the frequency of normal, sympathetic abnormality, parasympathetic abnormality and combined abnormalities were; 62%, 16%, 16% and 6% respectively. No significant gender difference was found in the cardiac autonomic dysfunction (X~(2) = 3.550, P value = 0.314). This study revealed that sub-clinical autonomic abnormalities could occur among apparently h althy adults despite their normal clinical status. This may explain a few cases of unexplained sudden cardiovascular events such as sudden cardiac death among apparently healthy young adults.