Abstract
Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by multiple tics, with frequent behavioural co-morbidity. Sensory phenomena (SP) are unpleasant sensations which provide involuntary urges to tic in patients with TS. While SP have a central role in tic expression, little is known about their clinical correlates or association with health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in TS. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 72 adult outpatients with TS, recruited at a specialist clinic. All participants completed a comprehensive battery of psychometric measures, including the Premonitory Urges for Tics Scale (PUTS) to assess SP and a disease-specific quality of life scale (GTS-QOL) to assess HR-QOL. SP were very common (97.2% of patients), with a median PUTS total score of 28/40. Bivariate analyses showed that PUTS scores were most significantly correlated with self-report measures of vocal tic severity and compulsivity. PUTS scores were also significantly correlated with GTS-QOL scores, most notably with the psychological subscale. SP are frequently reported by adults with TS, are associated with perceived tic severity and compulsivity, and can significantly affect psychological well-being. Standardised measurement of SP should be incorporated into routine assessment of patients with TS to optimise their clinical management.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 705-10 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Psychiatry Research |
Volume | 209 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Oct 2013 |
Keywords
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Behavioral Symptoms/epidemiology
- Comorbidity
- Compulsive Behavior/complications
- Female
- Humans
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
- Psychometrics
- Quality of Life/psychology
- Statistics, Nonparametric
- Tic Disorders/complications
- Tourette Syndrome/epidemiology
- Visual Analog Scale
- Young Adult