The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on tic symptoms in children and young people: a prospective cohort study

To understand how children and young people with tic disorders were affected by COVID-19, we compared pre and during pandemic scores on the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS). Participants were young people (N = 112; male:78%; 9–17 years) randomised to the control arm of the “ORBIT-Trial” (ISRCTN70758207, ClinicalTrials.gov-NCT03483493). For this analysis, the control arm was split into two groups: one group was followed up to 12-months’ post-randomisation before the pandemic started (pre-COVID group, n = 44); the other group was impacted by the pandemic at the 12-month follow-up (during-COVID group, n = 47). Mixed effects linear regression modelling was conducted to explore differences in YGTSS at 6- and 12-months post-randomisation. There were no significant differences in tic symptom or severity between participants who were assessed before and during COVID-19. This finding was not influenced by age, gender, symptoms of anxiety or autism spectrum disorder. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly impact existing tic symptoms.