The Cardiac Sympathetic Nerve Activity in the Elderly Is Attenuated in the Right Lateral Decubitus Position

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the supine, left lateral decubitus, and right lateral decubitus positions on autonomic nervous activity in elderly adults by using spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). Method: Forty-five adults aged 73.6 ± 5.7 years were enrolled. After lying in the supine position, all participants moved to the lateral decubitus positions in a random order and maintained the positions for 10 min, while electrocardiographic data were recorded to measure HRV. Results: The lowest heart rate continued for 10 min when participants were in the left lateral decubitus position compared with the other two positions (p < .001), while the HRV indexes remained unchanged. The low-frequency HRV to high-frequency HRV ratio (LF/HF) for the right lateral decubitus position was significantly lower than that for the other positions. Discussion: The right lateral decubitus position may attenuate sympathetic nerve activity in elderly adults.