Assessment of Non-Motor Symptoms in Essential Tremor

In the clinical picture of essential tremor (ET), in addition to tremulous hyperkinesis. the importance of non-motor manifestations has recently been discussed. Despite their high occurrence, in most cases these manifestations remain unverified. The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of non-motor symptoms (NMS) in patients with ET. The study included 3 groups comparable by sex and age. Group 1 (the main group) consisted of 53 patients with ET; Group 2 consisted of 57 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD); Group 3 consisted of I I 1 individuals without ET or PD, and without burdened heredity for extrapyramidal diseases. In study Groups the distribution by ethnicity was as follows: 22(41.5%) ethnic Yakuts and 31(58.5%) ethnic Russians in Group 1, 29(50.9%) ethnic Yakuts and 28(49.1%) ethnic Russians in Group 2, and 67(60.4%) ethnic Yakuts and 44(39.6%) ethnic Russians in Group 3. All subjects filled out the NMSQuest scale. which contains 30 questions for various groups of NMS. The analysis of NMS using the NMSQues scale in the three study groups showed a similarity between ET plus and PD in non-motor manifestations. The spectrum of NMS in patients with ET plus of both ethnic groups is heterogeneous and prevails in patients of the Russian ethnic group. Thus, Yakut patients with ET plus and PD showed a similarity in the frequency of hyposmia to Russian representatives with ET plus and PD in hyposmia, dysphagia, pain, sadness and restless legs syndrome. Excessive sweating was found in more than 64% of patients with ET plus of both ethnic groups. The results indicate a similarity in manifestations of ET plus and PD, which is possibly due to both the genetic and phenotypic affinity of these nosologies, and suggests that ET plus can be a transitional fonn of PD.