Presented in part to the Society for Neuroscience, November 12–16, 2005, Washington, DC.
Accepted 10 January 2006.
Abstract
Héroux ME, Parisi SL, Larocerie-Salgado J, Norman KE. Upper-extremity disability in essential tremor.
Objective
To determine the extent of disability in subjects with essential tremor (ET) using time-based, standardized measures of upper-extremity function.
Design
Descriptive case series.
Setting
Motor performance research laboratory.
Participants
Thirty subjects with ET (mean age, 58.3±13.7y) and 28 healthy controls (mean age, 58.4±12.4y).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
We assessed upper-extremity function using the Box and Block Test, Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT), and Test Évaluant la performance des Membres supérieurs des Personnes Âgées (TEMPA). We measured tremor severity with laser displacement sensors.
Results
Subjects with ET-type tremor in 1 or both hands performed significantly worse than controls on all unilateral and bilateral tasks (P range, .038–.001) except on the PPT for the dominant side. ET subjects without ET-type tremor in the dominant hand also performed significantly worse than controls on the TEMPA unilateral tasks (P=.043). Performance on the 3 functional measures correlated moderately with tremor severity for the nondominant hand.
Conclusions
Subjects with ET show measurable disability on time-based measures of upper-extremity function. However, our findings are consistent with other reports that tremor severity does not correlate well with disability, especially with regard to the dominant upper extremity.
School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Reprint requests to Kathleen E. Norman, PhD, PT, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen’s University, 31 George St, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
Supported by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities of Ontario (graduate scholarship), a Carmichael Scholarship, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant no. MOP67044).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
ABSTRACT