VALIDITY OF LONG-TERM ELECTROMYOGRAPHY IN THE QUANTIFICATION OF TREMOR

We previously developed a method of tremor quantification using long-t erm electromyography registration of antagonistic forearm muscles that is reliable, sensitive, and specific for pathologic tremors. The pres ent study demonstrates that tremor occurrence as measured by this meth od correlates well with clinical parameters of tremor in idiopathic Pa rkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET) (subscores of the Uni fied Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale for PD, tremor rating according to Bain et al. for ET). We conclude that the method is a valid and obj ective means of tremor quantification in PD and ET. Key Words: Tremor- Tremor quantification-Electromyography, long-term-Validation-Parkinson 's disease-Essential tremor.