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. 2010 Jul;197(1):36-44.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.071050.

Psychosocial outcome and psychiatric comorbidity in older adolescents with Tourette syndrome: controlled study

Daniel A Gorman  1 , Nancy Thompson, Kerstin J Plessen, Mary M Robertson, James F Leckman, Bradley S Peterson
Affiliations

Psychosocial outcome and psychiatric comorbidity in older adolescents with Tourette syndrome: controlled study

Daniel A Gorman et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2010 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Children with Tourette syndrome generally experience improvement of tics by age 18 years, but psychosocial and comorbidity outcomes at this age are unclear.

Aims: To compare psychosocial outcomes and lifetime comorbidity rates in older adolescents with Tourette syndrome and controls. We hypothesised a priori that individuals with Tourette syndrome would have lower Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) scores.

Method: A total of 65 individuals with Tourette syndrome, identified in childhood, and 65 matched community controls without tic or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms were assessed around 18 years of age regarding psychosocial functioning and lifetime psychiatric disorders.

Results: Compared with controls, individuals with Tourette syndrome had substantially lower CGAS scores (P = 10(-8)) and higher rates of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), major depression, learning disorder and conduct disorder (P< or =0.01). In the participants with Tourette syndrome, poorer psychosocial outcomes were associated with greater ADHD, OCD and tic severity.

Conclusions: Clinically ascertained children with Tourette syndrome typically have impaired psychosocial functioning and high comorbidity rates in late adolescence.

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