Influence of neurological lesion level on heart rate variability and fatigue in adults with spinal cord injury.

STUDY

DESIGN

Group cohort design.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the influence of spinal cord injury (SCI) and neurological level on heart rate variability (HRV) and associations with fatigue.

SETTING

SCI rehabilitation outpatient and community settings in New South Wales, Australia.

METHODS

Participants included 45 adults with SCI living in the community and 44 able-bodied controls. Socio-demographic, neurological injury, psychological, HRV and eye blink variables were assessed. Multivariate analysis of variance and post hoc protected t-tests were used to determine differences in HRV and fatigue as a function of the neurological level. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships between these factors.

RESULTS

Participants with SCI had significantly reduced sympathetic activity. Those with tetraplegia had lowered sympathetic activity compared with those with paraplegia and able-bodied controls. Neither were differences in parasympathetic activity found between groups nor were there any significant differences found for the time domain or non-linear domains. Higher levels of fatigue were found in the SCI sample, and participants with tetraplegia had higher fatigue levels compared with those with paraplegia. Fatigued participants were more likely to have altered autonomic function-that is, reduced sympathetic activity.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher levels of neurological impairment in people with SCI are more likely to result in disordered cardiovascular control involving reduced sympathetic activity, whereas elevated fatigue was found to be associated with increased sympathetic dysfunction. Findings highlight the need to address risks associated with this dysfunction, such as improved HRV and fatigue screening for people with SCI and improved education on cardiovascular risk factors.