Occurrence of Tremor in USA

Rinker JR 2nd, Salter AR, Walker H, Amara A, Meador W, Cutter GR. Prevalence and characteristics of tremor in the NARCOMS multiple sclerosis registry: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open. 2015;5(1):e006714. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006714.
OBJECTIVES:(1)To describe the prevalence and severity of tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) registered within a large North American MS registry; (2) to provide detailed descriptions on the characteristics and severity of tremor in a subset of registrants and (3) to compare several measures of tremor severity for strength of agreement.
PARTICIPANTS:Registrants of NARCOMS reporting mild or greater tremor severity.
OUTCOME MEASURES: We determined the cross-sectional prevalence of tremor in the NARCOMS registry over three semiannual updates between fall (autumn) 2010 and fall 2011. A subset of registrants (n=552) completed a supplemental survey providing detailed descriptions of their tremor. Outcomes included descriptive characteristics of their tremors and correlations between outcome measures to determine the strength of agreement in assessing tremor severity.
RESULTS: The estimated prevalence of tremor in NARCOMS ranged from 45% to 46.8%, with severe tremor affecting 5.5-5.9% of respondents. In the subset completing the supplemental survey, mild tremor severity was associated with younger age of MS diagnosis and tremor onset than those with moderate or severe tremor. However, tremor severity did not differ by duration of disease or tremor. Respondents provided descriptions of tremor symptoms on the Clinical Ataxia Rating Scale, which had a moderate to good (ρ=0.595) correlation with the Tremor Related Activities of Daily Living (TRADL) scale. Objectively scored Archimedes' spirals had a weaker (ρ=0.358) correlation with the TRADL. Rates of unemployment, disability and symptomatic medication use increased with tremor severity, but were high even among those with mild tremor.
CONCLUSIONS: Tremor is common among NARCOMS registrants and severely disabling for some. Both ADL-based and symptom-descriptive measures of tremor severity can be used to stratify patients.

                              Can you draw a line between the lines

What's NARCOMS.......narcotic use in MS....nope it is the North American Research Committee of Multiple Sclerosis (Click here) It has a registry of people with  MS in the USA and it gives an indication of the occurrence of tremor

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