Research on Social Anxiety in Patients with Essential Tremor and Parkinson’s Disease in a Sample of the Latvian Population / Sociālās Trauksmes Izpēte Pacientiem ar Esenciālu Tremoru un Parkinsona Slimību Latvijas Populācijā

Essential tremor is considered to be one of the most common movement disorders in the world, but its non-motor symptoms have been studied relatively little in clinical practice. The objective of this study was to identify the symptoms of social anxiety and their association with motor symptoms in 40 patients with essential tremor (ET), in comparison with 35 patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and 39 patients of the control group from the Latvian population. This was conducted by neurological investigation, five patient self-assessment questionnaires (DASS, BDI, SIAS, SPS, STAI), and clinical interviews. The findings are as follows: using SIAS (Social Interaction Anxiety Scale), in ET patients there was no significant correlation between the severity of tremor and anxiety during social contacts (p > 0.05), but there was a moderate positive significant correlation with the social phobia scale (SPS) score (r_s=0.35; p < 0.05). In the ET group, social anxiety (phobia) disorder was found in 50% of the patients according to ICD-10, but in 35% according to DSM-5. In the PD group, the diagnostic criteria of social anxiety disorder were met by 42.86% according to ICD-10 and 25.71% according to DSM-5. In the control group mild social anxiety was found and the criteria met by 20.51% according to ICD-10 and 7.69% according to DSM-5.