title: Validation of the presence of comorbidities in a Danish clinical cohort of children with Tourette syndrome.
abstract: Tourette syndrome (TS) is characterized by the presence of motor and vocal tics and is often accompanied by comorbid symptoms. We assessed the frequency of the comorbid symptoms obsessive-compulsive disorder obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), rage attacks, sleeping disturbances, and depressive symptoms in a Danish clinical cohort of 314 children with TS using validated diagnostic instruments. For the assessment of symptoms of seasonal affective disorder and stuttering, we used a nonvalidated systematic interview. In total, only 10.2% of the children did not have any comorbid symptoms at all. If ADHD and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder were present, the rates of the comorbidities rage, symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, sleep disturbances, and depressive symptoms were significantly higher than if ADHD and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder were absent. The most severe tics were found in the group for which both ADHD and obsessive-compulsive disorder were present. Furthermore, there was a tendency toward more severe tics if other comorbid symptoms were present.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, Glostrup University Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark. nanettemol@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Nanette M M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Mol Debes
authors.forename: Helle
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hjalgrim
authors.forename: Liselotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Skov
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D020323:Tics / Q000453:epidemiology; D005879:Tourette Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult