TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychological Suffering in Essential Tremor
T2 - A Study of Patients and Those Who Are Close to Them
AU - Monin, Joan K.
AU - Gutierrez, Jesús
AU - Kellner, Sarah
AU - Morgan, Sarah
AU - Collins, Kathleen
AU - Rohl, Brittany
AU - Migliore, Fanny
AU - Cosentino, Stephanie
AU - Huey, Edward
AU - Louis, Elan D.
N1 - Copyright:
This record is sourced from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Background: Although the motor and non-motor features of essential tremor (ET) have been characterized in detail, it is not known whether ET patients suffer psychologically and whether those who are close to them consider them to be suffering in this way.Methods: Fifty ET patients and 50 "close others" (COs), identified by patients "as someone who knows you well and sees you often" and who can "provide a different perspective on your well-being", reported their own depressive symptoms, daily stress, and perceptions of patient psychological suffering and patient overall suffering with validated scales. ET patients' tremor severity, duration, disability, cognition, and number of medications were also assessed.Results: ET patients reported levels of psychological suffering within the range documented in arthritis and dementia patients from previous studies, and COs perceived significantly more psychological suffering in patients than patients reported themselves. Regression models, controlling for tremor severity, duration, and disability revealed that patients' greater psychological suffering was associated with greater patient depression. The greater perceptions of COs of patient psychological and overall suffering were associated with greater CO depression and daily stress. Sensitivity analysis showed that patients' cognitive status or number of medications did not affect the results.Discussion: Multidisciplinary teams caring for ET patients should look beyond simple clinical ET indicators. They should be aware of patient experiences and perceptions of COs of psychological and overall suffering. This will help guide the development of evidence-based, supportive interventions that improve communication about the needs of ET patients and those who are close to them.
AB - Background: Although the motor and non-motor features of essential tremor (ET) have been characterized in detail, it is not known whether ET patients suffer psychologically and whether those who are close to them consider them to be suffering in this way.Methods: Fifty ET patients and 50 "close others" (COs), identified by patients "as someone who knows you well and sees you often" and who can "provide a different perspective on your well-being", reported their own depressive symptoms, daily stress, and perceptions of patient psychological suffering and patient overall suffering with validated scales. ET patients' tremor severity, duration, disability, cognition, and number of medications were also assessed.Results: ET patients reported levels of psychological suffering within the range documented in arthritis and dementia patients from previous studies, and COs perceived significantly more psychological suffering in patients than patients reported themselves. Regression models, controlling for tremor severity, duration, and disability revealed that patients' greater psychological suffering was associated with greater patient depression. The greater perceptions of COs of patient psychological and overall suffering were associated with greater CO depression and daily stress. Sensitivity analysis showed that patients' cognitive status or number of medications did not affect the results.Discussion: Multidisciplinary teams caring for ET patients should look beyond simple clinical ET indicators. They should be aware of patient experiences and perceptions of COs of psychological and overall suffering. This will help guide the development of evidence-based, supportive interventions that improve communication about the needs of ET patients and those who are close to them.
KW - Essential tremor
KW - clinical
KW - depression
KW - non-motor
KW - suffering
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U2 - 10.7916/D8Q53WF0
DO - 10.7916/D8Q53WF0
M3 - Article
C2 - 29276649
AN - SCOPUS:85052685296
SN - 2160-8288
VL - 7
SP - 526
JO - Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.)
JF - Tremor and other hyperkinetic movements (New York, N.Y.)
ER -