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Multicenter Study
. 2022 Aug;31(8):1-12.
doi: 10.1007/s00787-021-01757-y. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

Vitamin D levels in children and adolescents with chronic tic disorders: a multicentre study

Molly Bond #  1 , Natalie Moll #  2 , Alicia Rosello  3   4 , Rod Bond  5 , Jaana Schnell  6 , Bianka Burger  6 , Pieter J Hoekstra  7 , Andrea Dietrich  7 , Anette Schrag  8 , Eva Kocovska  9 , Davide Martino  10 , Norbert Mueller  6 , Markus Schwarz  2 , Ute-Christiane Meier  11   12 ; EMTICS Collaborative Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Vitamin D levels in children and adolescents with chronic tic disorders: a multicentre study

Molly Bond et al. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

This study investigated whether vitamin D is associated with the presence or severity of chronic tic disorders and their psychiatric comorbidities. This cross-sectional study compared serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] (ng/ml) levels among three groups: children and adolescents (3-16 years) with CTD (n = 327); first-degree relatives (3-10 years) of individuals with CTD who were assessed for a period of up to 7 years for possible onset of tics and developed tics within this period (n = 31); and first-degree relatives who did not develop tics and were ≥ 10 years old at their last assessment (n = 93). The relationship between 25(OH)D and the presence and severity of tics, as well as comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), were analysed controlling for age, sex, season, centre, latitude, family relatedness, and comorbidities. When comparing the CTD cohort to the unaffected cohort, the observed result was contrary to the one expected: a 10 ng/ml increase in 25(OH)D was associated with higher odds of having CTD (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.27-3.42, p < 0.01). There was no association between 25(OH)D and tic severity. However, a 10 ng/ml increase in 25(OH)D was associated with lower odds of having comorbid ADHD within the CTD cohort (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.36-0.84, p = 0.01) and was inversely associated with ADHD symptom severity (β = - 2.52, 95% CI - 4.16-0.88, p < 0.01). In conclusion, lower vitamin D levels were not associated with a higher presence or severity of tics but were associated with the presence and severity of comorbid ADHD in children and adolescents with CTD.

Keywords: ADHD; OCD; Pediatrics; Tic disorder; Tourette; Vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr Meier filed a patent “Biomarkers for inflammatory response”. All other authors reported no biomedical financial interest or potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Fitted values from the sinusoidal regression model of vitamin D levels in terms of CTD/tic onset/unaffected and the day of the year on which the sample was taken (day 0 = January 1). This model was used to create a deseasonalised vitamin D level for each individual
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Estimated change in probability of having a CTD, OCD, or ADHD diagnosis as 25(OH)D (ng/ml) increases. As 25(OH)D increases, the probability of CTD and OCD increases, whereas for ADHD, the probability decreases
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The graph on the left shows that as 25(OH)D increases, severity of ADHD as measured by DSM-IV-TR decreases. The graph on the right shows that as 25(OH)D increases, SNAP-IV symptom count decreases
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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