Essential Tremor Non-Motor Symptoms: A Single Center Study

INTRODUCTION: Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder, and studies suggest that in addition to motor symptoms, there may also be non-motor symptoms. In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and the impact of disease severity on daily life in Turkish patients with ET.
METHODS: Thirty patients with ET and 30 gender-matched healthy controls were included. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Non-Motor Symptoms Questionnaire (NMSQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were utilized to assess and compare psychiatric and cognitive status and sleep disturbances, and to investigate whether these symptoms are related to the severity of motor symptoms. Tremor severity was evaluated by the Fahn–Tolosa–Marin Tremor Rating Scale (FTM-TRS).
RESULTS: The average BDI, BAI, and NMSQ scores were significantly higher in the patient group (p<0.005). A positive correlation was observed between disease duration and PSQI, BAI, and NMSQ scores (p=0.028, p=0.041, p=0.047, respectively). FTM-TRS scores showed a negative correlation with MoCA and a positive correlation with PSQI, BDI, BAI, and NMSQ scores (p=0.005, p<0.001, p=0.005, p=0.004). The average MoCA score in patients over 45 years old was significantly lower (p=0.008).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that non-motor symptoms such as anxiety, decreased sleep quality, and impaired cognitive functions accompanying ET significantly affect patients' quality of life. Therefore, evaluating and treating non-motor symptoms should be considered essential for the rehabilitation of patients with ET.