Sensory phenomena: clinical correlates and impact on quality of life in adult patients with Tourette syndrome

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.

Keywords: Health-related quality of life; Obsessive-compulsive symptoms; Premonitory urges; Sensory phenomena; Tics; Tourette syndrome.