title: Unprovoked and glyceryl trinitrate-provoked head-up tilt table test is safe in older people: a review of 10 years' experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the safety of the head-up tilt test (HUT) in older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Direct observation and measurements.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tests performed in a quiet room with dim lighting in a laboratory setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand ninety-six subjects aged 60 to 74; 873 aged 75 and older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood pressure and pulse at baseline for 10 minutes and 70 degrees tilt for maximum of 45 minutes. Subjects with unprovoked HUT had test repeated on a separate day after 800 mg glyceryl trinitrate (GTN).
  
  
  RESULTS
  One thousand four hundred ninety-five drug-free and 474 GTN-provoked HUTs were studied. In those aged 60 to 74, the proportion of hypotensive unprovoked HUT was 16% (27% in those aged > or =75); this was higher with GTN provocation (43% in those aged 60-74, 44% in those aged > or =75; P<.01). Systolic blood pressure decreased during provoked HUT (lowest mean+/-standard deviation=67+/-20 in those aged 60-74, 63+/-24 in those aged > or =75; P<.01). There was one cardiovascular and no neurological complications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study included 10 times as many people as previous studies and demonstrates the safety of HUT in older people.
authors.affiliation: Flinders University Department of Rehabilitation and Aged Care, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia.
authors.forename: Zbigniew J
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Gieroba
authors.forename: Julia L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.forename: Steve W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Parry
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Norton
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: Rose Anne
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kenny
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D005996:Nitroglycerin; D013575:Syncope / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018667:Tilt-Table Test / Q000379:methods*; D014665:Vasodilator Agents
chemical_list: D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D005996:Nitroglycerin