The Movement Disorder Society established a task force to review rating scales 
for the assessment of tremor. Screening instruments used in identifying patients 
with tremor were also reviewed. Seven tremor severity scales, six activities of 
daily living (ADL)/disability scales, four quality-of-life scales, and five 
screening instruments were identified by searching PubMed.gov. The availability, 
use, acceptability, reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change were 
reviewed for each scale; and each scale was classified as recommended, suggested 
or listed based on whether 3, 2, or 1 of the following criteria were met: (1) 
used in the assessment of tremor (yes/no), (2) used in published studies by 
people other than the developers (yes/no), and (3) successful clinimetric 
testing (yes/no). Five tremor severity scales (the Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor 
Rating Scale, the Bain and Findley Clinical Tremor Rating Scale, the Bain and 
Findley Spirography Scale, the Washington Heights-Inwood Genetic Study of 
Essential Tremor Rating Scale, and the Tremor Research Group Essential Tremor 
Rating Assessment Scale), one ADL/disability scale (the Bain and Findley Tremor 
ADL Scale), one quality-of-life scale (the Quality of Life in Essential Tremor 
Questionnaire), and one screening instrument (the Washington Heights-Inwood 
Genetic Study of Essential Tremor Rating Scale, version 1) are recommended using 
these criteria. However, all scales need a more comprehensive analysis of 
sensitivity to change in order to judge their utility in clinical trials and 
individual patient assessments. The task force recommends that further work with 
existing recommended scales be performed as opposed to the development of new 
tremor scales.