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Background Essential tremor (ET) is typically measured in the clinic with subjective tremor rating scales which require the presence of a clinician for scoring and are not appropriate for measuring severity throughout the day. Motion sensors can accurately rate tremor severity during a set of predefined tasks in a laboratory. Methods We evaluated the ability of motion sensors to quantify tremor during unconstrained activities at home. 20 ET subjects wore a wireless sensor continuously for up to 10 hours daily on two days and completed hourly standardized tremor assessments involving pre-defined tasks. Mathematical models were used to predict tremor rating scores from the sensor data. Results At home tremor scores from hourly standardized assessments correlated with at home tremor scores estimated during unconstrained activities immediately following the standardized assessments. The hourly standardized assessments did not significantly fluctuate throughout the day, while fluctuations in the continuous assessments tended to follow changes in voluntary activity level. Both types of tremor ratings (standardized and continuous) showed high day-to-day test-retest reliability with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.67 to 0.90 for continuous ratings and 0.77 to 0.95 for standardized ratings. Conclusions Results demonstrate the feasibility of continuous monitoring of tremor severity at home, which should provide clinicians with a measure of the temporal pattern of tremor in the context of daily life and serve as a useful tool for the evaluation of novel anti-tremor medications in clinical trials.

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BackgroundMovement disorders can be associated with or caused by hematological abnormalities. The objective of this review is to highlight features that will aid in the clinician's recognition and treatment of these disorders.MethodsMESH terms relevant to movement disorders and hematologic diseases were searched to identify conditions included in this narrative, educational review.ResultsSeveral conditions were identified, and they were organized by hematologic categories to include red blood cell abnormalities, white blood cell abnormalities, disorders of clotting and bleeding, hematologic malignancies, and others.ConclusionsThis review will increase providers’ understanding of disorders that include movement disorders and hematologic abnormalities. Basic hematologic laboratories can aid in assessment of these disorders, to include complete blood count/hemogram and peripheral blood smear. Recognition is key, especially in the setting of underlying malignancy, vitamin deficiency, or other disorder in which treatment is available.

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