Investigation of the prevalence of essential tremor in individuals aged 18–60 in Erzurum

Abstract

Essential tremor (ET) is one of the common neurological diseases and it is the most common movement disorder in adults. The main clinical finding in patients with ET is kinetic tremor in the arms. There is no adequate study investigating the prevalence of ET in Turkey. Therefore, this study was planned in the center of the city of Erzurum in order to determine the prevalence of essential tremor in our region. This study was performed door to door in the center of the city of Erzurum. ET screening questionnaires were administered to all participants between the ages of 18-60 at first stage. Those who answer yes to any of the first five questions of the questionnaire were evaluated. Patients without a clear differential diagnosis were called for examination to the neurology department and they were re-evaluated by a faculty member specializing in movement disorders. Patients were classified by using Washington Heights-Inwood Genetic Study of Essential Tremor diagnostic and clinical evaluation scale. The prevalence of ET was calculated as 1.60 % (64 out of 4,024 participants). 30 of the cases were male and 34 were female. First-degree relatives of 30 patients with ET had a history of tremor. While 52 patients had tremor only in their hands, 11 patients had in various organs including hands. There was isolated head tremor in one patient. ET prevalence was increasing with age. The prevalence of ET in people between the ages of 18 and 60 was calculated as 1.60 %. This value is compatible with other measurements of the prevalence of ET.

How Many People in the USA Have Essential Tremor? Deriving a Population Estimate Based on Epidemiological Data

“…8 The search yielded 34 population-based prevalence studies. 1,[9][10][11][12][13][14] The methodology of each identified study was assessed, and methodologically more rigorous studies were selected for further review. The methodological issues of greatest importance were as follows: 1) all subjects in the sample received an in-person neurological examination or the study provided information to indicate that the sensitivity of the screening questionnaire used during the first phase of case ascertainment was high, 2) neurologists assigned the ET diagnoses, 3) the study used diagnostic criteria that sufficiently separate ET from other entities such as enhanced physiological tremor, which are common in the population, and 4) the study provided separate age-specific estimates of prevalence.…”

Blood Harmane (1-Methyl-9H-Pyrido[3,4-b]indole) and Mercury in Essential Tremor: A Population-Based, Environmental Epidemiology Study in the Faroe Islands

“…These diagnostic criteria for ET were developed for a population-based genetic study and based on data from approximately 2,000 normal (nondiseased controls) [30], the criteria carefully specify the specific examination maneuvers during which tremor should be present and the severity of tremor that should be evident during these maneuvers to distinguish normal from ET. These criteria have been shown to be both reliable [31] and valid [32] and have been used by tremor investigators in the United States and internationally [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. As described, a diagnosis of ET was assigned to 27 of 227 individuals [24].…”

Prevalence of Essential Tremor in the Faroe Islands: A Population-Based Study

“…First, the sample size in this population-based study is large, with data on 1,328 individuals, which corresponds to 5.5% of the entire Faroese population ≥40 years. More importantly, however, is that, tremor was (1) systematically quantified (2) by a senior movement disorder neurologist with particular specialization in tremor (3) using a reliable and valid clinical rating scale (4) followed by the application of rigorous diagnostic criteria used by tremor investigators in the United States and internationally [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39].…”

“…These diagnostic criteria for ET were developed for a population-based genetic study and based on data from approximately 2,000 normal (nondiseased controls) [25], the criteria carefully specify the specific examination maneuvers during which tremor should be present and the severity of tremor that should be evident during these maneuvers to distinguish normal from ET. These criteria have been shown to be both reliable [26] and valid [27] and have been used by tremor investigators in the United States and internationally [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. As in prior reports, borderline tremor was a diagnosis assigned to individuals who did not fully meet strict diagnostic criteria for ET (defined above) but were nonetheless considered by E.D.L.…”