Clinical characteristics of 49 patients with psychogenic movement disorders in a tertiary clinic in Turkey

Abstract

Patients admitted to movement disorders outpatient unit at a university hospital between January 2002 and June 2007 were screened for psychogenic movement disorders (PMDs). Out of 1,743 patients, 49 patients (2.8%), including four children, were diagnosed to have PMDs. Women to men ratio was 34/15. The mean age and the age-at-onset were 41 +/- 17 years and 36 +/- 15 years in the adult group, and 10 +/- 2 and 9 +/- 2 years in children. Among the whole group, 44% had tremor, 24% dystonia, 12% pure gait disorders, 8% parkinsonism, 6% chorea-ballism, and 4% tic disorder. PMD developed acutely in 85% of patients, and distractibility was observed in 83%. Of the patients, 81% met the criteria for clinically established PMD, whereas 16% for documented and 2% for probable PMD. Although our data was obtained from a different culture, our results showed that hospital-based frequency and phenomenological features between our PMD group and previously reported ones are similar.