Underlying Tremor Improvement with Consistent Use of Transcutaneous Afferent Patterned Stimulation in Patients with Essential Tremor.
Publication Title
Tremor Other Hyperkinet Mov (N Y)
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2026
Keywords
Humans; Essential Tremor; Male; Female; Aged; Retrospective Studies; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation; Middle Aged; Treatment Outcome; Activities of Daily Living; Severity of Illness Index; Aged, 80 and over; neuromodulation; transcutaneous afferent patterned stimulation; tremor; underlying tremor improvement.; california; santa monica; washington; swedish neurosci
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Transcutaneous afferent patterned stimulation (TAPS) is a non-invasive, wrist-worn neurostimulation therapy that has demonstrated acute and short-term lasting tremor reduction in patients with essential tremor (ET). However, the longer-term improvement in underlying tremor severity from consistent use of TAPS has not been fully explored.
METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the multicenter PROSPECT trial, which evaluated twice-daily TAPS use over three months in patients with ET. Underlying tremor improvement was assessed by comparing pre-stimulation tremor severity at baseline with pre-stimulation tremor severity at 1- and 3-month follow-up visits. Tremor severity was measured using the Bain & Findley Activities of Daily Living (BF-ADL) scale and the Tremor Research Group's Essential Tremor Rating Assessment Scale (TETRAS). Responders were defined as patients demonstrating at least a 1-point improvement on any qualifying task.
RESULTS: Among 192 patients with available data, pre-stimulation BF-ADL scores improved significantly by 2.0 points at 1 month and 2.7 points at 3 months compared with baseline (p < 0.001). Pre-stimulation TETRAS scores also showed significant improvements at both time points (p < 0.001). Measurements at 1 and 3 months were made an average of 16.2 hours after the prior stimulation session. Over 80% of patients met responder criteria for underlying tremor improvement on BF-ADL and TETRAS at both follow-up visits. Improvements were observed even among patients using TAPS approximately once daily.
CONCLUSIONS: Consistent use of TAPS was associated with significant improvement in underlying tremor severity in patients with essential tremor. These findings suggest that regular TAPS use may confer sustained therapeutic benefit.
Area of Special Interest
Neurosciences (Brain & Spine)
Specialty/Research Institute
Neurosciences
Specialty/Research Institute
Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
DOI
10.5334/tohm.1091
