Clinical Assessment Scales in Autonomic Nervous System Disorders

ABSTRACT

The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in maintaining homeostasis mediated by the parasympathetic, sympathetic and enteric systems. Autonomic failure adversely affects body function and may increase morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the scoring systems, such as Ewing’s classification and Composite Autonomic Scoring Scale (CASS), were developed to detect and quantify autonomic deficits, primarily focusing on the cardiovascular reflex system. Autonomic disorders manifest with a myriad of symptoms resulting from the dysfunction of the gastrointestinal, genitourinary, secretomotor, pupillomotor systems as well as cardiovascular system. Several self-report questionnaires, such as Composite Autonomic Symptom Scale (COMPASS), Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson’s disease for Autonomic Symptoms (SCOPA-AUT), Survey of Autonomic Symptom (SAS), were also used to support to detect various signs and symptoms of autonomic dysfunction in clinical settings. In this review, we introduce clinically useful assessment scales in autonomic nervous system disorders.