This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Background: Action tremor may be more prevalent in relatives of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) than in relatives of control subjects. This tremor could represent mild PD or essential tremor. An estimate of the risk of this condition in families of patients with PD is important when studying the genetics of PD.
Objectives: To determine the risk of action tremor in first-degree relatives of probands with tremor-dominant PD (TD-PD) and postural instability gait disorder PD (PIGD-PD) compared with first-degree relatives of control probands.
Methods: PD and control probands participated in a familial aggregation study of PD. The presence of action tremor in their relatives was ascertained from reports of one or more informants. Relatives who met diagnostic criteria for PD were excluded. Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for gender, education, race, and vital status (dead vs alive) of the relatives were used to assess the relative risk (RR) of action tremor in first-degree relatives of PD probands vs first-degree relatives of control probands.
Results: There were 487 PD probands, 409 control probands, and 5,563 relatives. The risk of action tremor was higher in the relatives of TD-PD probands than in the relatives of control probands (RR = 2.14; 95% CI = 1.53 to 2.98) but not in the relatives of PIGD-PD probands compared with the relatives of control probands (RR = 1.81; 95% CI = 0.66 to 5.02).
Conclusion: The risk of action tremor was increased in the relatives of PD probands, particularly when they had TD-PD. Whether the tremor in these relatives represents essential tremor or an isolated manifestation of PD requires further investigation.
- Received March 19, 2003.
- Accepted June 18, 2003.
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
