Skin temperature responses to cold stress in patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities

Patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) often suffer from autonomic nervous system disturbances. At the same time, the caregivers of patients with SMID face challenges to understand the patients' chronic health problems effectively by simply observing them. Therefore, recognizing specific symptoms is important to improve support for SMID. We investigated the autonomic nervous function in patients with SMID with skin vasomotor responses to cold stimuli. The relationship of the results of cold stress and autonomic symptoms observed by the main caretakers was also examined. We analyzed 38 patients with SMID. Their hand skin temperature was measured before and after cold stimuli using infrared thermography. A 'distal-dorsal difference' (DDD) at baseline, and the recovery rate of the second fingertip and dorsum were calculated. All main caregivers filled out questionnaires evaluating autonomic symptoms. The recovery rate of the second fingertip and dorsum after cold stimuli was lower than 80% in 64% and 60% patients, respectively. The baseline DDD was greater than 1 °C in 84% of the patients. A DDD > 1 °C was associated with a reduced recovery rate. All caregivers recognized some autonomic-related symptoms. Patients with constipation or snoring demonstrated a reduced recovery rate. However, none of the observed symptoms can predict the presence of a reduced rate with cold stimuli in a statistically significant way. This study showed excessive sympathetic nerve activities in patients with SMID. The baseline DDD could be a valuable parameter accessing their microvascular circulation. To improve the life of a person with SMID, accessing autonomic function using a noninvasive method, such as thermography is warranted without directly observed symptoms.