Essential tremor and the scales: Quality of life in essential tremor, the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale; and, the Bain and Findley Clinical Tremor Rating Scale

Abstract

[...]the following validation study of diagnostic tools was designed (cross-sectional) via convenience sampling.2 Patients, materials and methods 2.1 Patients All the observed patients came on an outpatient basis to Movement Disorder Consultation of the Neurology Service at Hospital de Especialidades Carlos Andrade Marín (HECAM), Quito-Ecuador. The patients were also evaluated with the following tools: (1) Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) [15], (2) Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) [16], (3) EQ-5D (EQ), a generic scale to assess health-related quality of life which was administered alternately by any of the authors, as was the QUEST [17], ignoring the results of the other scale. [...]Section C grades DLA in 8 domains. [...]the DLA section evaluates the patient in 30 dimensions with a score between 0 = never and 4 = always. The generic scale for evaluating health-related life quality EQ-5D (EQ) [17] consists of 5 dimensions which are evaluated with scores between 1 =normal and 3 =severely affected, and a VAS, which ranges from 0 =the worst imaginable to 100 =the best state of health.2.4 Methods of analysis Descriptive statistics of the central tendency and dispersion were gathered.2.4.1 Data quality and acceptability (i) Lost data must not exceed 5%; (ii) the difference between the average and the median should not exceed 10% of the highest possible score, and (iii) the floor and ceiling effects must not exceed 15% [18].