[Clinical, functional and quality of life differences in patients of different gender with essential tremor].
BACKGROUND
Essential tremor (ET) is a chronic disease with important variability in its clinical manifestation, discapacity and quality of life (QoL) affectation. As previous reports have described differences in clinical manifestations of ET according to gender, this study proposes to check its existence in the Spanish population and to detect the presence of discapacity or alterations in QoL between different gender.


METHODS
Patients with ET attended in the neurology clinic of a sanitary area were evaluated in a prospective consecutive way. Their clinical characteristics were recorded and discapacity and QoL were assessed through the Fahn and Tolosa scale for ET and the SF-36 health questionnaire. Comparisons between groups of both genders have been established.


RESULTS
104 patients with ET were evaluated (46 males and 58 females). Clinically there were differences concerning the localization and type of tremor. Although the intensity and the presence of discapacity were similar in both genders, women showed a lower QoL compared to men in the "physical role" dimension.


CONCLUSIONS
There are differences in the clinical expression and in the affectation of QoL in patients with ET of different gender. Women had a lower score in the "physical role" dimension of QoL in comparison to their reference population, meaning lesser satisfaction with their performance capacity of their usual activities. QoL, thus, does not appear in this study as something only related with the degree of discapacity, but rather as having other determinant factors.
Navas Vinagre
I
I
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Mútua de Terrasa, Terrassa, Barcelona. inmanavas@wanadoo.es
López  del Val
L J
LJ
Quintana Riera
S
S
Sánchez Oriz
E
E
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020329:Essential Tremor / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology