Conversion Rate of Essential Tremor to Essential Tremor Parkinson Disease
Data From a Prospective Longitudinal Study
Abstract
Background and Objectives
There has been a long-standing dialog as to whether essential tremor (ET) increases the risk of developing Parkinson disease (PD). While there are relevant cross-sectional data, there are almost no longitudinal prospective data. We quantified the conversion rate from ET to ETPD in a prospective longitudinal cohort study of patients with ET. We compared the observed rate with that reported in the epidemiologic literature.
Methods
We enrolled patients with ET in a prospective, longitudinal study. A senior movement disorders neurologist evaluated standardized neurologic examinations every 18 months.
Results
One hundred ninety-three patients with ET (mean age = 78.1 ± 9.6 years, range = 55–96) had a mean follow-up duration of 4.1 years. Seven (3.6%) converted from ET to ETPD. The incidence of PD among patients with ET was 7/792.9 person-years (py; i.e., 882.8/100,000 py). A meta-analysis of the incidence (per 100,000 py) of PD in 14 studies from 13 countries across 4 continents reported an incidence of PD = 61.21 (men, 40 years or older) and 37.55 (women, 40 years or older). The incidence/100,000 py in men peaked in the 80- to 89-year-old age group (258.47) and in women in the 80- to 89-year-old age group (103.48 py). The abovementioned published values are 3.4–23.5 times lower than the value we observed for ET.
Discussion
The incidence of PD in an ET cohort is substantially higher than that reported in historical population-based control groups across numerous countries. Additional prospective longitudinal data are needed to further explore this association.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Neurology® Clinical Practice
Volume 13 • Number 3 • June 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Academy of Neurology.
Publication History
Received: November 21, 2022
Accepted: March 2, 2023
Published online: May 10, 2023
Published in print: June 2023
Disclosure
The authors report no relevant disclosures. Full disclosure form information provided by the authors is available with the full text of this article at Neurology.org/cp.
Study Funding
NINDS R01 NS086736.
Authors
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