Background
Methods
TG | CG | BC | CRC | DM (1/2) | CHD | RD | HD | MC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Invited (n) | 475 | 131 | 95 | 51 | 66 | 45 | 29 | 36 | 22 |
Consented (n) | 452 | 120 | 95 | 51 | 60 | 42 | 28 | 34 | 22 |
Complete Data (n/%) | 440/100 | 115/26.1 | 95/21.6 | 49/11.1 | 60/13.6 (20/40) | 39/8.9 | 28/6.4 | 32/7.3 | 22/5.0 |
Women (n/%) | 316/71.8 | 80/25.3 | 95/30.1 | 30/9.5 | 29/9.2 (10/19) | 13/4.1 | 22/7.0 | 32/10.1 | 15/4.7 |
Men (n/%) | 124/28.2 | 35/2.8 | 0/0 | 19/15.3 | 31/25.0 (10/21) | 26/21.0 | 6/4.8 | 0/0 | 7/5.6 |
Age (mean) | 56.8 | 54.0 | 57.1 | 62.0 | 53.7 | 67.3 | 47.7 | 52.1 | 65.1 |
(SD) | (13.6) | (14.2) | (9.9) | (12.2) | (14.5) | (9.3) | (16.4) | (12.6) | (9.7) |
Retest (n/%) | 227/51.6 | 59/26.0 | 34/15.0 | 26/11.4 | 41/18.1 | 22/9.7 | 19/8.4 | 17/7.5 | 12/5.3 |
Test-Retest time in weeks Mean (SD) | 13.1 (7.8) | ||||||||
Median (25/75% Quartils) | 12.0 (6.0/19) | ||||||||
Marital Status
| |||||||||
Married (n/%) | 274/62.3 | 75/27.4 | 59/21.5 | 33/12.0 | 38/13.8 | 29/10.6 | 10/3.6 | 15/5.5 | 15/5.5 |
Single (n/%) | 52/11.8 | 13/25.0 | 8/15.3 | 6/11.5 | 6/11.5 | 4/7.7 | 9/17.3 | 5/9.6 | 1/1.9 |
Divorced (n/%) | 55/12.5 | 15/27.3 | 13/23.6 | 5/9.1 | 9/16.4 | 3/5.5 | 4/7.3 | 5/9.1 | 1/1.8 |
Widowed (n/%) | 41/9.3 | 8/19.5 | 9/17.6 | 4/9.8 | 7/17.1 | 3/7.3 | 3/7.3 | 3/7.3 | 4/9.8 |
No details available (n/%) | 18/4.1 | 4/22.2 | 6/33.3 | 1/5.6 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/11.1 | 4/22.2 | 1/56. |
Most recent profession
| |||||||||
Worker (n/%) | 69/15.7 | 6/8.7 | 12/17.4 | 12/17.4 | 18/26.1 | 9/13.0 | 5/7.2 | 3/4.3 | 4/5.8 |
Employee/civil servant (n/%) | 245/55.7 | 72/29.4 | 45/18.4 | 22/8.9 | 35/14.3 | 25/14.2 | 13/5.3 | 19/7.7 | 14/5 |
Self employed (n/%) | 48/10.9 | 19/39.6 | 8/16.7 | 5/10.4 | 3/6.2 | 2/4.2 | 6/12.5 | 3/6.2 | 2/4.2 |
House wife/husband (n/%) | 57/12.9 | 12/21.1 | 23/40.4 | 10/17.5 | 1/1.8 | 3/5.3 | 2/3.5 | 4/7.0 | 2/3.5 |
Still in education (n/%) | 7/1.6 | 3/4.3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2/28.6 | 0/0 | 2/28.6 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
No details available (n/%) | 14/3.2 | 3/21.4 | 7/50.0 | 0/0 | 1/7.1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3/21.4 | 0/0 |
Non-validated items on autonomic regulation | Responses | ||
---|---|---|---|
At what age did you need your first pair of glasses?I
| |||
If you tend towards vertigo, how long do your vertigo attacks usually last?I
| seconds | minutes | hours |
Do you take laxatives?II
| frequently | occasionally | never |
At what time of day do you usually have bowel movements?II
| morning | midday | evening |
You need your glasses – if at all – to see things in focus... (this question does not distinguish between farsightedness in old age and youth).III
| nearby | no glasses necessary | in the distance |
What type of flavours do you prefer at breakfast?III
| sweet | indifferent | salty |
Until 35 years of age you needed glasses to improve your vision because you were...III
| short-sighted | no glasses necessary | far-sighted |
Do you drink sweetened tea or coffee?III
| rarely | occasionally | frequently |
When taking a walk, do you usually notice anything of interest ...III
| close by (i.e. on indifferent far away the ground etc.) (horizon etc.) | ||
Do you usually have bowel movements after meals?III
| rarely | occasionally | frequently |
Do you remember dreaming?IV
| frequently | occasionally | rarely |
Did you experience dental problems early in your youthIV
| frequently | occasionally | rarely |
Do you consider yourself to be skilful and dexterous?IV
| rarely | occasionally | frequently |
Can you cope with eating big meals?IV
| hardly | reasonably well | very well |
Validated items
|
Possible answers On autonomic regulation
| ||
Low = 1
|
average = 2
|
high = 3
| |
Do you suffer from dizzy spells? | frequently | occasionally | never |
Do you suffer from dizziness when you look down from a height? | frequently | occasionally | never |
Do you suffer from dizziness when you get up in the morning? | frequently | occasionally | never |
Do you suffer from dizziness when you straighten up or bend down? | frequently | occasionally | never |
Do you tend to have cold or cold-sweaty hands even in the warmer months? | frequently | occasionally | rarely |
Do you suffer from travel sickness (e.g. sea sickness)? | frequently | occasionally | almost/never |
Do you get dizzy from circular motions (when on a roundabout, for example)? | frequently | occasionally | almost/never |
Orthostatic-circulatory regulation
| |||
Do you have to pull yourself together to go to work? | frequently | occasionally | rarely |
Do you feel rested in the morning | rarely | occasionally | frequently |
Do you have problems falling asleep? | frequently | occasionally | rarely |
Do you tend to sweat? | frequently | occasionally | rarely |
Do you suffer from disturbed sleep? | frequently | occasionally | rarely |
At what time of the day do you feel most comfortably? | evening | in the middle of the day | morning |
Do you tend to sweat at night? | frequently | occasionally | rarely |
Do you tend to have stomach growling? | frequently | occasionally | rarely |
Rest/activity regulation
| |||
How often do you have bowel movements? | <1/day | approx. 1/day | >1/day |
Do you normally have bowel movements at regular times? | rarely | occasionally | frequently |
Do you suffer from constipation? | frequently | occasionally | rarely |
Digestive regulation
| |||
18 item sumscale
|
Convergence criteria
(I) Marburg short questionnaire on chronotypology | Possible answers | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
At what time would you like to get up in the morning? | before 6.20 hrs, 6.20 hrs – 7.45 hrs, 7.45 hrs – 9.50 hrs, 9.50 hrs – 10.50 hrs, after 10.50 hrs | |||||
How difficult is it for you to get up in the morning? | not difficult | rarely difficult | not easy | very difficult | ||
In the last 14 days, how often did you go to bed late without reason and ended up feeling that you hadn't really slept long enough? | never | once | 2–3 times | frequently | ||
At what time in the evening do you usually feel tired and find it necessary to go to bed? | before 20.50 hrs, 20.50 hrs – 22.10 hrs, 22.10 hrs – 0.50 hrs, 0.50 hrs – 2.00 hrs, after 2.00 hrs | |||||
You will have heard of the so called "morning people", who feel at their best in the morning and „evening people", who feel at their best in the evening- which of these groups would you consider yourself to belong to? | definitely a morning person, more a morning than an evening person, more an evening person than a morning person, definitely an evening person | |||||
(II) Questions on autonomic function, heat sensitivity, general constitution, illnesses and symptoms
|
Possible answers
| |||||
Do you tend to sweat through your head and extremities even in the colder months? | frequently | occasionally | rarely | |||
Do you tend to feel cold and to shiver? | frequently | occasionally | rarely | |||
In the last few years, have you reacted to common colds with a temperature over 38°? | frequently | occasionally | rarely | |||
Do you generally tend to feel quite low? | frequently | occasionally | rarely | |||
Do you have any allergies? | yes | no | ||||
Which childhood illnesses did you have? | measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, rubella, mumps, chicken-pox | |||||
How many days was your average menstrual cycle? a) between the ages of 21–30 : b) at present: | over 28 days | ca. 28 days | under 28 days | |||
How strong are/were your period pains? a) between the ages of 21–30: b) at present: | little pain | average pain | strong pain with hours spent in bed | |||
BMI age 21–30 | BMI age 40–45 | BMI today | Kg/m2
|
Acceptability criteria
Principal component analysis
Internal consistency, reliability and convergence validity analyses
Discriminant validity
Results
Item acceptance and selection
Principal component analysis
Items | Factor 1 | Factor 2 | Factor 3 | α-if item deleted subscales | Item-subscale Correlation | Cronbach-α/Test-retest | Mean (SD) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
dizzy spells |
0.708
| 0.225 | -0.034 |
0.661
|
0.564
| 2.49 (0.60) | |
dizziness when looking down |
0.593
| 0.117 | 0.075 |
0.684
|
0.451
| 2.18 (0.78) | |
dizziness when getting up in the morning |
0.634
| 0.336 | -0.058 |
0.670
|
0.520
| 2.50 (0.62) | |
dizziness when straighten up or bend down? |
0.675
| 0.274 | -0.083 |
0.662
|
0.553
| 2.25 (0.63) | |
cold or cold-sweaty hands |
0.409
| 0.075 | 0.075 |
0.735
|
0.248
| 2.48 (0.75) | |
travel sickness |
0.505
| -0.143 | 0.023 |
0.716
|
0.316
| 2.51 (0.69) | |
dizzy from circular motions |
0.607
| 0.063 | 0.091 |
0.687
|
0.443
| 1.88 (0.81) | |
Orthostatic-circulatory regulation
|
r
α
= 0.733/r
rt
= 0.819
| 16.28 (3.05) | |||||
pulling together to go to work | 0.108 |
0.601
| -0.097 |
0.614
|
0.390
| 2.39 (0.64) | |
rested in the morning | -0.005 |
0.700
| -0.001 |
0.598
|
0.440
| 2.39 (0.74) | |
problems falling asleep | 0.105 |
0.548
| 0.244 |
0.606
|
0.408
| 2.36 (0.77) | |
tend to sweat | 0.130 |
0.416
| 0.037 |
0.630
|
0.315
| 2.14 (0.77) | |
suffering from disturbed sleep | 0.119 |
0.636
| 0.132 |
0.588
|
0.472
| 2.18 (0.77) | |
time of the day feeling most comfortably | -0.072 |
0.351
| -0.090 |
0.677
|
0.166
| 2.07 (0.89) | |
sweat at night | 0.175 |
0.447
| 0.112 |
0.619
|
0.359
| 2.47 (0.72) | |
stomach growling | 0.198 |
0.405
| -0.080 |
0.643
|
0.261
| 2.30 (0.70) | |
Rest/activity regulation
|
r
α
= 0.661/r
rt
= 0.767
| 18.25 (3.34) | |||||
bowel movements frequency | 0.016 | 0.005 |
0.765
|
0.535
|
0.453
| 2.07 (0.58) | |
bowel movements regularly | 0.001 | 0.011 |
0.713
|
0.608
|
0.409
| 2.49 (0.72) | |
constipation | 0.223 | 0.175 |
0.756
|
0.480
|
0.490
| 2.67 (0.60) | |
Digestive regulation
|
r
α
= 0.645/r
rt
= 0.704
| 7.24 (1.46) | |||||
Total aR-scale
|
r
α
= 0.751/r
rt
= 0.851
| 41.79 (5.80) |
Reliability
Convergence validity
AR- sumscale | orthostatic-circulatory regulation | rest/activity regulation | digestive regulation | |
---|---|---|---|---|
AR -sumscale | ||||
orthostatic- circulatory regulation |
0.781
| |||
rest/activity regulation |
0.810
|
0.373
| ||
digestive regulation |
0.375
|
0.150
|
0.120
| |
A-HADS |
0.495
|
0.341
|
0.486
|
0.133
|
D-HADS |
0.349
|
0.212
|
0.368
|
0.127
|
Self- regulation |
0.346
|
0.236
|
0.332
|
0.142
|
MQC |
0.306
|
0.132
|
0.403
| 0.020 |
HLQ-Physical Complaint |
0.399
|
0.244
|
0.368
|
0.204
|
HLQ-Digestive Wellbeing |
0.356
|
0.267
|
0.315
|
0.191
|
HLQ-Motility |
0.400
|
0.250
|
0.379
|
0.187
|
HLQ-Mental Balance |
0.518
|
0.316
|
0.527
|
0.180
|
HLQ-Social Interaction |
0.391
|
0.279
|
0.383
|
0.146
|
HLQ-Initiative Power |
0.373
|
0.227
|
0.366
|
0.192
|
General feeling |
0.358
|
0.239
|
0.367
|
0.140
|
Less Allergies |
0.184
|
0.159
|
0.151
| -0.012 |
Less Dysmenorrhoea |
0.325
|
0.280
|
0.262
| 0.195 |
Less Perspiration |
0.277
|
0.156
|
0.330
| 0.010 |
Less Feeling Cold |
0.247
|
0.307
|
0.153
| 0.013 |
Discriminant validity
Gender | Age classes | N | aR 18 Mean/SD | Orthostatic-circulatory regulation Mean/SD | rest/activity regulation Mean/SD | Digestive regulation Mean/SD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Women | 316 | 41.0/5.8 | 15.7/3.1 | 17.9/3.3 | 7.1/1.5 | |
Men | 124 | 43.8/5.2 | 17.4/2.9 | 18.7/3.4 | 7.3/1.4 | |
lower third (18–40) | 59 | 41.3/4.6 | 15.9/3.0 | 18.3/2.8 | 7.1/1.3 | |
middle third (41–62) | 230 | 41.5/6.1 | 16.1/3.1 | 17.8/3.5 | 7.3/1.4 | |
upper third (63–85) | 151 | 42.4/5.6 | 16.4/3.2 | 18.4/3.3 | 7.0/1.6 |
Conditions of participants | Estimation of the means of aR Total score | 95%-Confidence interval | p-value |
---|---|---|---|
No chronic condition
|
44.8
|
43.7 – 45.8
| |
Breast cancer
|
41.6
|
40.3 – 42.9
|
0.0004
|
Colorectal cancer | 42.5 | 40.8 – 44.1 | 0.1284 |
Diabetes mellitus
|
41.1
|
39.7 – 42.4
|
0.0002
|
Rheumatological condition
|
41.5
|
39.5 – 43.6
|
0.0304
|
Coronary heart disease | 42.5 | 40.5 – 44.4 | 0.2645 |
Hashimoto disease | 43.0 | 41.0 – 44.9 | 0.4827 |
Multiple conditions
|
38.3
|
36.0 – 40.5
|
<.0001
|
Gender: Women Men
|
40.5 43.4
|
39.7 – 41.2 42.3 – 44.4
|
<.0001
|
1) Orthostatic-circulatory aR
| |||
No chronic condition
|
17.4
|
16.8 – 18.0
| |
Breast cancer | 16.7 | 15.9 – 17.4 | 0.4443 |
Colorectal cancer | 16.5 | 15.5 – 17.4 | 0.4036 |
Diabetes mellitus | 16.4 | 15.6 – 17.1 | 0.1840 |
Rheumatological condition
|
15.7
|
14.6 – 16.8
|
0.0463
|
Coronary heart disease | 16.3 | 15.3 – 17.4 | 0.4640 |
Hashimoto disease | 17.3 | 16.2 – 18.4 | 1.0000 |
Multiple conditions
|
15.4
|
14.2 – 16.7
|
0.0306
|
Gender: Women Men
|
17.4
|
15.1 – 15.9 16.8 – 18.0
|
<.0001
|
2) Rest/activity aR
| |||
No chronic condition
|
19.8
|
19.1 – 20.4
| |
Breast cancer
|
17.5
|
16.7 – 18.2
|
<.0001
|
Colorectal cancer | 18.5 | 17.5 – 19.5 | 0.1695 |
Diabetes mellitus
|
17.6
|
16.8 – 18.4
|
0.0003
|
Rheumatological condition | 18.4 | 17.2 – 19.6 | 0.2256 |
Coronary heart disease | 18.7 | 17.5 – 19.9 | 0.5671 |
Hashimoto disease | 18.9 | 17.8 – 20.1 | 0.7362 |
Multiple conditions
|
16.5
|
15.2 – 17.9
|
0.0001
|
Gender: Women Men | 17.9 18.5 | 17.9 – 18.4 17.9 – 19.2 | 0.1406 |
3) Digestive aR
| |||
No chronic condition
|
7.6
|
7.3 – 7.9
| |
Breast cancer | 7.5 | 7.1 – 7.8 | 0.9917 |
Colorectal cancer | 7.6 | 7.1 – 8.0 | 1.0000 |
Diabetes mellitus | 7.1 | 6.7 – 7.5 | 0.2094 |
Rheumatological condition | 7.5 | 6.9 – 8.0 | 0.9990 |
Coronary heart disease | 7.4 | 6.9 – 8.0 | 0.9969 |
Hashimoto disease
|
6.8
|
6.2 – 7.3
|
0.0446
|
Multiple conditions
|
6.3
|
5.7 – 6.9
|
0.0020
|
Gender: Women Men
|
7.0 7.4
|
6.8 – 7.2 7.1 – 7.7
|
<.0001
|