title: [Orthostatic intolerance--prevalence, diagnostic management and its significance for occupational medicine].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Orthostatic intolerance (OI) is a syndrome which is characterised by headache, concentration difficulties, palpitation of the heart, dizziness associated with postural tachycardia and plasma norepinephrine concentrations that are disportionately high in upright posture. OI hitherto can only be diagnosed by a tilt table examination with high expenditure. In this paper we examine the reliability and validity of a questionnaire as a screening instrument for OI.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 138 young males (mean age 21.6 years) from the military service. After a medical check and filling in the questionnaire, the participants underwent a tilt table test. The questionnaire consisted of 10 items registering presence and frequency of typical OI-symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  104 probands showed a normal tilt table test. OI was diagnosed in 14 probands, orthostatic hypotension (OH) in 6 and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in 14. The participants with OI scored significantly higher in the questionnaire than the normal subjects: The mean score of the OI group was 22.6, the normal participants had a mean score of 3.9. Participants with POTS had a mean score of 13.5 and subjects with OH had a mean score of 17.0.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We were able to establish a short questionnaire as a reliable and valid screening instrument for OI. Usage of this questionnaire can simplify enormously the diagnostic management of patients with suspected OI.
authors.affiliation: Klinische Abteilung für Arbeitsmedizin der Universität Wien, Wien, Osterreich. robert.winker@akh-wien.ac.at
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Winker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001317:Austria; D017046:Cost Savings; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007024:Hypotension, Orthostatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008889:Military Personnel; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000191:economics; D019462:Syncope, Vasovagal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D013577:Syndrome; D013610:Tachycardia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D018667:Tilt-Table Test / Q000191:economics