Objective: To compare the presence of autonomic symptoms on Parkinson’s disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET) applying the Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson’s disease for Autonomic Symptoms (SCOPA-Aut)

Background: For years the relationship between Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor has remained controversial. Although both are different diseases, there is great evidence of clinical overlap between both of them. Despite all the similarities between both diseases, and the extensive evidence regarding the autonomic component of Parkinson’s disease, little or nothing has been studied with respect to the possible presence of autonomic symptoms in essential tremor.

Method: Fifty patients with PD, 50 with ET and 50 healthy controls of similar ages and sexes attended in outpatient consultation between the months of May and November 2017 were evaluated applying the SCOPA-Aut questionnaire and the results were compared.

Results: The average age was higher in patients with PD (73.42 ± 10.02). The proportion of women was 40% versus 60% of men in PD, unlike ET where the proportion was inverse. The average scores of SCOPA-Aut are much higher in patients with PD than with ET and controls, the last two achieving similar scores. Women obtained higher scores than men in the SCOPA-Aut, both in the PD and ET groups; the gastrointestinal and urinary domains obtained the highest scores. A correlation was observed between age and the score obtained in the SCOPA-Aut.

Conclusion: It can be concluded from these results that autonomic symptoms in patients with essential tremor are not different from those presented by healthy controls, unlike patients with Parkinson’s disease. This would not be an area of clinical overlap between PE and the TEA. Also it can be said that there is a relationship between age and the number of dysautonomic complications observed.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/comparison-of-autonomic-symptoms-on-parkinsons-disease-and-essential-tremor-with-scopa-aut/