Citation

Bhatti DE, Thompson RJ, Malgireddy K, Syed NM, Bayer B, Bessette D, Fleisher MH, Murman DL, Torres-Russotto D. Clin. Park. Relat. Disord. 2019; 1: 10-12.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, International Association of Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.prdoa.2019.07.001

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Orthostatic Tremor (OT) is a rare movement disorder characterized by a sensation of unsteadiness while standing and associated with high frequency tremors. Patients with OT commonly report a fear of falling and significant limitations in everyday activities. The prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in OT patients has not been well-studied.

METHODS: Subjects were evaluated by trained psychiatry researchers using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.). The M.I.N.I is a validated screening tool for psychiatric disorders. A standardized history covering previous psychiatric symptoms and illnesses was also obtained.

RESULTS: 29 OT subjects were evaluated. The mean age was 67.7 years with female preponderance (89.3%). The average disease symptom duration was 18.2 years. 58.6% of the subjects had seen a mental health professional during the course of their OT illness. 24.1% of the subjects had a past history of depression, and 10.3% reported a family history of any psychiatric condition. 37.9% of the subjects screened positive for agoraphobia. Two of 29 subjects (6.9%) were classified as having a current major depressive episode and one subject (3.4%) was at risk for suicide.

CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric comorbidities are highly prevalent in OT patients, especially anxiety-spectrum disorders. Further studies are needed to understand if psychiatric disorders appear as a secondary response to the patient's symptoms, or are a primary non-motor manifestation of OT. © 2019 The Authors

Language: en

Keywords

human; suicide; female; male; aged; depression; prevalence; comorbidity; mental disease; controlled study; risk; clinical article; priority journal; anxiety disorder; family history; tremor; prospective study; disease duration; agoraphobia; Article; mental health care personnel; medical history; mini international neuropsychiatric interview; anxiety spectrum disorder; Anxiety spectrum disorders; orthostatic tremor; Orthostatic tremor