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Prevalence and clinical correlates of tic disorders in a community sample of school-age children

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Abstract

To examine the prevalence, clinical characteristics and course of children with tics identified in a community sample. This was a three-stage study. At the age of 9 to 11, parents of 8,244 children born at Aarhus University Hospital Skejby between January 1990 and April 1992 were invited to complete a screening questionnaire about tics. One year later participating parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). From December 2004 to June 2005, when the cohort was 13–15 years of age, parents of the children who screened positive for tics were interviewed in detail about tic disorders. The prevalence of Tourette Syndrome (TS) was 0.6 and 0.6% of chronic motor tics (CMT). Approximately one-third of those with a chronic tic disorder [CTD (TS and CMT)] reported remission of tics by age 13–15. On the parent-rated SDQ children with a CTD were five times more likely (OR = 5.0, 95% CI = 2.6–9.2) to fall into the clinical range of hyperactivity, twice as likely (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 2.1–7.5) to exhibit disruptive and defiant behavior and over four times more likely to have emotional difficulties (OR = 4.7, 95% CI = 2.5–8.6) compared to children without tic disorders. Children with hyperactivity and CTD were more impaired than subjects with CTD only. Children with CTD and hyperactivity show greater symptom severity across several domains of behavior and overall impairment. In the absence of hyperactivity, children with CTD are at increased risk for emotional difficulties, but not disruptive behavior problems.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by: the Tourette Association (TSA), the Danish Lundbeck foundation and the county of Aarhus Research Initiative. Janne Tabori Kraft, Tine Brink Henriksen and Carsten Obel have no financial relationships to disclose. Søren Dalsgaard has previously received speakers’ honoraria from Eli Lilly and Novartis Pharmaceuticals but has no current financial disclosure. Per Hove Thomsen is on the advisory board of Eli Lilly Denmark, and has received speakers’ honoraria from Novartis and Jannsen-Cilag. Lawrence Scahill has been a consultant for NeuroSearch, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Pfizer, BioMarin, Hoffman-Roche and has received research funding from Seaside Pharmaceuticals and Shire Pharmaceuticals. Support for Lawrence Scahill comes from NIMH grants (CTSAR01MH070802, R01MH069874, and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychiatric Hospital of Children and Adolescents, Aarhus University Hospital, Harald Selmersvej 66, 8240, Risskov, Denmark

    Janne Tabori Kraft & Per Hove Thomsen

  2. Yale University Child Study Center and School of Nursing, New Haven, USA

    Lawrence Scahill

  3. Institute of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Carsten Obel

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Aarhus University Hospital Skejby, Aarhus, Denmark

    Tine Brink Henriksen

  5. University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Søren Dalsgaard

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  1. Janne Tabori Kraft
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  2. Søren Dalsgaard
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  3. Carsten Obel
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  4. Per Hove Thomsen
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  5. Tine Brink Henriksen
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  6. Lawrence Scahill
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Correspondence to Janne Tabori Kraft.

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Tabori Kraft, J., Dalsgaard, S., Obel, C. et al. Prevalence and clinical correlates of tic disorders in a community sample of school-age children. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 21, 5–13 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-011-0223-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-011-0223-z

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