Browsing by Author "Ballentine, Howard Monroe"

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    Relating Heart Rate Variability, Urinary Catecholamines, and Baseline Fitness to Respiratory Distress Index and Severity of Disease in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients
    Ballentine, Howard Monroe (Virginia Tech, 2001-08-17)
    Heart Rate Variability (HRV) currently is utilized when assessing the risk of mortality in individuals suffering from coronary heart disease or diabetic neuropathy. Research has shown that patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) also show a decrease in HRV, as well as an increase in sympathetic drive characterized by an increase in the low-frequency component of HRV. HRV, in conjunction with other indicators, may represent a non-invasive, low cost method for the confirmation of severity of OSA in some patients and therefore may represent an additional tool for the assessment of risk in these individuals. This becomes especially true when urinary catecholamines, fitness level, and quality of life (QOL) assessment are included. The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists between severity of OSA as assessed by respiratory distress index (RDI) and the selected measures HRV, fitness, QOL, and catecholamine output. Subjects were 6 men and 5 women who were recently diagnosed with OSA by polysomnographic (PSG) study. HRV and blood pressure was measured during two consecutive trials consisting of 512 heartbeats. Catecholamine levels were determined by HPLC following 24-hour urine collection. Fitness levels were established following cycle ergometer testing and QOL following questionnaire completion. Subjects with lower weight, BMI, and neck circumference had significantly higher parasympathetic influence as analyzed through the amount of high frequency component of HRV (r =.738, .726, .789, respectively; p<0.05). Respiratory distress index (RDI) was negatively related to the average heart rate (HR=RR average, r = -.610, p<0.05), while the amount of total sleep (r = .657, p<0.05) and REM sleep (r = .739, p<0.01) increased as HR increased. The average HR was correlated to the predicted VO2max (r = .677, p<0.05). When the frequency components of HRV, fitness, QOL, and catecholamines were combined, the association to RDI increased dramatically (r = .984, p = .02). The results indicate that as the severity of OSA increases, markers of fitness, QOL, and sleep decrease. There is also an inverse relationship between autonomic function and severity of OSA. It is concluded that HRV and fitness levels are inversely related to the severity of OSA, and that these measures may be developed into a risk assessment tool for use in OSA patient evaluatio
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    The Relationship Between Wellness and Academic Success in First-year College Students
    Ballentine, Howard Monroe (Virginia Tech, 2010-04-20)
    Persistence is an important issue in higher education (Tinto, 1987a). Although social and economic benefits of a college education are well documented (Baum & Ma, 2007; Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2004), during the last 100 years the college graduation rate has remained at approximately 50% (Education Policy Institute, 2004). While prior academic achievement has proven to be a successful predictor of success in college (Camara & Echtnernacht, 2000; Sadler, Cohen, & Kockesen, 1997; Tinto, 1993), it does not account for all the variability in student retention. Research has shown that other factors, including social adaptation, physical fitness, and emotional stability can contribute to whether an individual continues to persist past the first year of college (Astin, 1993; McClanahan, 2004; Tinto, 1987b). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-reported wellness and academic success in first-year health science college students. In addition the study sought to determine if the relationship between wellness and academic success differs by gender, academic program, or ethnicity. Also examined was whether the factors of wellness could be used to predict academic success. Wellness was defined using the Myers and Sweeney (2005) conceptual framework, as measured in a series of constructs, including the coping self, creative self, essential self, physical self, social self and an overall wellness score. Academic success was defined as first semester grade point average. The study also controlled for high school grade point average (HSGPA) and scholastic aptitude test score (SAT) as factors of prior academic achievement that may affect academic success in college. The findings suggest that the impact of wellness differs by ethnicity and academic program. In addition, certain factors of wellness can be used to help predict academic success in the first semester of college. Finally, overall wellness had little if any bearing on academic success in first-time, first-year students.