Functional Mobility and Postural Control in Essential Tremor
Presented in part to the Society for Neuroscience, November 12–16, 2005, Washington, DC.
Abstract
Parisi SL, Héroux ME, Culham EG, Norman KE. Functional mobility and postural control in essential tremor.
Objective
To evaluate functional mobility and postural control in participants with essential tremor (ET).
Design
Cross-sectional cohort study.
Setting
Motor performance research laboratory.
Participants
Sixteen participants with ET including head tremor (age, 59.4±12.0y), 14 participants with ET and no head tremor (age, 57.1±15.9y), and 28 healthy controls (age, 58.4±12.4y).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
We assessed the Timed Up & Go, time to ascend and descend stairs, Dynamic Gait Index, and Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Participants completed the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale and the Human Activity Profile. We assessed postural control using center-of-pressure measures from force platform recordings of quiet standing in 5 conditions.
Results
Participants with ET including head tremor performed worse than controls on all functional mobility performance and self-report measures (P<.05) except the BBS and stair descent time. Mean performance of ET participants without head tremor was intermediate between the other 2 groups. Sway speed measures of postural control showed similar patterns, but no significant group differences in post hoc analysis. There were no statistically significant or clinically important correlations between measures of tremor status and functional mobility status.
Conclusions
Participants with ET show reduced functional mobility, especially those with head tremor.
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, 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 authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
ABSTRACT