A comparison of two indices of palmar sweating.

Abstract

A new colorimetric technique for the study of sweating (ferric chloride-tannic acid stain) was compared with the technique of palmar conductance for (a) test-retest reliability, and (b) validity as a measure of autonomic function. An indirect approach was made to the latter problem in terms of the relationship of each index to other autonomically innervated variables as measured in 251 young adult males. Palmar conductance was shown to be a more reliable measure than the stain index, and to bear a closer relationship to the other autonomic variables. The coeff. of correlation between the 2 indices themselves was 0.31.