Essential tremor might be less frequent than Parkinson's disease in North Israel Arab villages

Amir Glik, Magdalena Masarwa, Amin Abuful, Amar Deeb, Rosa Strugatsky, Lindsay A. Farrer, Robert P. Friedland, Rivka Inzelberg*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Essential tremor (ET) is much more prevalent than Parkinson's disease (PD) in Western countries. We estimated ET and PD prevalence in Wadi Ara Arabic villages in Northern Israel. In this door-to-door survey, all consenting residents aged ≥65 years were systematically examined by an Arabic speaking team. No prescreening questionnaires were used. A random sample of 900 subjects [437 males, mean age (SD) = 72.6 years (6.6)] of the 2,163 eligible residents were evaluated. Sixteen subjects had an action, intentional tremor. Tremor prevalence was estimated as 1.78% (95% CI 1.1-2.87). Nine of these had another likely cause of tremor. Only 7 patients were diagnosed as ET [prevalence 0.78% (95% CI 0.38-1.6)]. PD was diagnosed in 13 subjects. PD prevalence was 1.44% (95% CI 0.84-2.45). ET is unusually uncommon in this population and possibly even less frequent than PD. The PD prevalence in Wadi Ara is similar to that reported in Western countries.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)119-122
Number of pages4
JournalMovement Disorders
Volume24
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Jan 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Arabic
  • Epidemiology
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Prevalence studies
  • Tremor

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