The levels of anxiety and depression in young male patients with essential tremor

Abstract

Objective: Essential tremor (ET), characterized by postural and kinetic tremor seen on hands and arms, is the most common movement disorder that causes significant disability. Besides the motor symptoms such as tremor, ET is also often accompanied by psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety and depression. We identified our objectives as to compare the level of anxiety and depression in young male patients with ET with the normal and to determine the relationship between this level and tremor severity and duration of illness. Method: 37 male patients with ET who were admitted to neurology clinic of our hospital and diagnosed according to Washington Heights-Inwood Genetic Study of Essential Tremor (WHIGET) diagnostic criteria and 32 healthy volunteers that were matched for age, gender and education level with this patient group have been included in this study. The tremor severity scores of ET patients were determined. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were administered to the both groups. The results were compared between two groups. Results: Both groups were similar in terms of their age and level of education. The BAI and BDI scores of the patient group were 21.83±13.01 and 17.45±1.66 in order, and 11.03±9.19 and 9.68±8.67 in the control group respectively. The BAI and BDI scores of the patient group were significantly higher than those of the control group (in order p: 0.000 and p: 0.003). Both the BAI and BDI scores didn’t correlate with the disease duration and total tremor scores. Conclusion: The level of anxiety and depression was significantly higher in young male patients with ET when compared to control group. The anxiety and depression scores were not correlated with the duration of illness and tremor severity.

Keywords

• essential Tremor, anxiety, depression

Genç erkek esansiyel tremor hastalarında anksiyete ve depresyon düzeyleri

Öz

Amaç: Esansiyel tremor (ET) el ve kollarda pozisyonel ve hareketle ilişkili tremorla karakterize, belirgin yeti yitimine neden olan ve en sık görülen hareket bozukluğudur. ET’ye tremor gibi motor belirtilerin yanında anksiyete ve depresyon gibi psikiyatrik belirtiler de sıklıkla eşlik etmektedir. Çalışmamızın amacını; genç erkek ET hastalarında anksiyete ve depresyon düzeylerinin normallerle karşılaştırılması ve bu düzeylerin tremor şiddeti ve hastalık süresi ile ilişkisinin saptanması olarak belirledik. Yöntem: Bu çalışmaya hastanemizin nöroloji polikliniğine başvuran ve Washington Heights-Inwood Genetic Study of Essential Tremor (WHİGET) tanı kriterlerine göre tanısı konulmuş 37 erkek ET hastası ve bu hasta grubu ile yaş, cinsiyet ve eğitim düzeyi açısından eşleşen 32 sağlıklı gönüllü dâhil edildi. ET hastalarının tremor şiddet puanları belirlendi. Her iki gruba Beck Anksiyete Ölçeği (BAÖ) ve Beck Depresyon Ölçeği (BDÖ) uygulandı. Sonuçlar iki grup arasında karşılaştırıldı. Bulgular: Her iki grup yaş ve eğitim düzeyi açısından benzerdi. Hasta grubunun BAÖ ve BDÖ skorları sırasıyla 21.83±13.01 ve 17.45±1.66, kontrol grubunun BAÖ ve BDÖ skorları ise sırasıyla 11.03±9.19 ve 9.68±8.67 idi. Hasta grubunun BAÖ ve BDÖ skorları kontrol grubuna göre anlamlı olarak yüksekti (sırasıyla p=0.000 ve p=0.003). BAÖ ve BDÖ skorlarının her ikisinin hastalık süresi ve toplam tremor puanları ile ilişkisi saptanmadı. Sonuç: Genç erkek ET hastalarında kontrol grubuna göre anksiyete ve depresyon düzeyleri belirgin olarak yüksek saptandı. Anksiyete ve depresyon skorları hastalık süresi ve tremor şiddet puanı ile ilişkili değildi.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• esansiyel tremor, anksiyete, depresyon

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