Background
Essential tremor (ET) is a common movement disorder that often causes functional disability. There have been very few investigations about the clinical characteristics of ET in Korea. Therefore, we performed a study showing the clinical features and electrophysiological findings of ET.
Methods: We analyzed medical records and accelerometry data of 152 patients (male vs female; 79 vs 73) with ET, who visited the Neurology Clinic of Hospital from 2000 to 2003. Clinical characteristics of ET were summarized including the age of onset, family history, tremor type, body part involved, and associated symptoms. The frequency of tremor was recorded and the spectral analysis of tremor was performed.
Results: The age of tremor onset showed bimodal distribution with peaks in the 2nd and 5th decades. Family history was found in 46 patients (30.3%). The patients with the family history presented earlier onset of tremor than patients without the history (mean age of onset, y: 35.2 vs. 49.9, P < 0.001). Tremor appeared most frequently in hands (94%), and followed by head (25%). In head tremor,
