| Abstrakt: |
Background: Ethnic differences in the clinical characteristics (severity and distribution) of essential tremor (ET) have not been studied. The presence of these differences suggests that ET is not a homogeneous disease and that there is variability in disease expression under different circumstances. As part of a community-based study, we evaluated a multiethnic group of cases. Objective: To assess whether there are ethnic differences in the clinical characteristics of ET. Methods: Elderly residents of Washington Heights–Inwood, New York, were enrolled in a community-based health study (N=2117). Participants underwent a medical interview and a neurological examination conducted by a neurologist, and subjects with ET were identified. These subjects with ET were then enrolled in a community-based study of ET and underwent a tremor interview, a videotaped tremor examination, and in some cases, a performance-based test of function and quantitative computerized tremor analysis. A total tremor score (range, 0-36, with 0 indicating no tremor and 36 indicating maximum tremor) was assigned to each subject based on 2 neurologists' ratings of the tremor examination. Results: Among 62 subjects with ET (white [n=16], African American [n=18], and Hispanic [n=28]), there were ethnic differences in the total tremor score (F=3.68, P=.03). In a multiple regression model adjusting for age, white subjects had a mean total tremor score that was 5.3 points lower than that of nonwhite subjects (P=.008). We divided the nonwhite group into African American and Hispanic subgroups. In a regression model adjusting for age and duration, the white group had a mean total tremor score that was 6.1 points lower than that of the Hispanic group (P=.07) and 7.2 points lower than that of the African American group (P=.05). The mean performance-based test score was 1.7 times higher in the African American group and 2.1 times higher in the Hispanic group compared with the white group (P=... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
