Continuous ambulatory multichannel accelerometry (
CAMCA) has recently been validated for the assessment of hypo-and
bradykinesia and body position in patients with
Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aims to validate
CAMCA for the assessment of
resting tremor in patients with PD. First, in seven patients with PD with varying degrees of
tremor severity, a
tremor detection algorithm was developed. Second, 59 patients with PD and 43 age-matched controls were assessed with
CAMCA during 24 hours. Duration and intensity of
resting tremor, and measures reflecting hypo-and
bradykinesia and body position were calculated for the diurnal period. In part 1 of the study, the
tremor detection algorithm had a high sensitivity (0.82) and specificity (0.93). Ambulatory monitoring revealed that categories with higher clinical
tremor severity had increased objective values for duration and intensity of
tremor. Duration and intensity of
tremor were correlated with the clinical score for
resting tremor (Spearman's rank correlation: 0.66-0.77). Measures for hypo-and
bradykinesia differed between patients and controls, but not between groups of patients defined by
tremor severity. This study has validated continuous ambulatory multichannel accelerometry for the assessment of
tremor in PD, while simultaneously measuring hypo-and
bradykinesia and body position.