Conversion Rate of Essential Tremor to Essential Tremor Parkinson Disease: Data From a Prospective Longitudinal Study

There has been a long-standing dialog as to whether essential tremor (ET) increases the risk of developing Parkinson disease (PD). While there are relevant cross-sectional data, there are almost no longitudinal prospective data. We quantified the conversion rate from ET to ETPD in a prospective longitudinal cohort study of patients with ET. We compared the observed rate with that reported in the epidemiologic literature.

We enrolled patients with ET in a prospective, longitudinal study. A senior movement disorders neurologist evaluated standardized neurologic examinations every 18 months.

One hundred ninety-three patients with ET (mean age = 78.1 ± 9.6 years, range = 55-96) had a mean follow-up duration of 4.1 years. Seven (3.6%) converted from ET to ETPD. The incidence of PD among patients with ET was 7/792.9 person-years (py; i.e., 882.8/100,000 py). A meta-analysis of the incidence (per 100,000 py) of PD in 14 studies from 13 countries across 4 continents reported an incidence of PD = 61.21 (men, 40 years or older) and 37.55 (women, 40 years or older). The incidence/100,000 py in men peaked in the 80- to 89-year-old age group (258.47) and in women in the 80- to 89-year-old age group (103.48 py). The abovementioned published values are 3.4-23.5 times lower than the value we observed for ET.

The incidence of PD in an ET cohort is substantially higher than that reported in historical population-based control groups across numerous countries. Additional prospective longitudinal data are needed to further explore this association.