Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of childhood tic disorders

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to investigate the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of children and adolescents diagnosed with tic disorders. Materials and Methods: The study population included 187 children with tic disorders, aged between 4 and 18 years. The data were obtained by using Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS), Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders, Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). The demographic information, history of familial diseases were recorded. Results: The study included 37 girls (mean 10.9 +/- 2.5 years) and 150 boys (mean 10.9 +/- 2.7 years) with a mean age of 10.9 +/- 2.6 years. Of all cases, 135 were classified as Tourette Syndrome (n=135; 72,2%), 50 as motor tics (n=50; 26,7 %) and 2 as others tic disorders (n=2; 1,1%) according to the diagnostic tic disorders subtype. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of mean age and first symptom age according to the subtype of tic disorder. In 91% of the cases, the age of onset of tics was 12 years or younger. The rate of having at least one comorbidity, mean number of comorbidities and comorbid ADHD rates were significantly higher among boys than girls. The most common comorbid diagnoses were ADHD (n=142, 75.9%), OCD (n= 08, 57.8%) and anxiety disorder (n=57, 30.4%). Conclusion: In our study, male cases, early onset and multiple comorbid diagnoses were found to be significantly higher in childhood tic disorders.