Abstract
Sensory phenomena and related features of Tourette syndrome are related to poorer quality of life. Therefore, sensory phenomena might also have a negative impact on global functioning. However, the influence of sensory phenomena, tics, and obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCS) on global functioning after several years of usual treatment has not been investigated. Twenty out of 45 Japanese patients with Tourette syndrome who had previously undergone an evaluation of these clinical features were assessed again after an average of four years. We conducted a panel of assessments for premonitory urges, broader sensory phenomena, tic severity, OCS, and global functioning. Based on Pearson’s correlation coefficient, current global functioning was significantly negatively correlated with previous tics and marginally negatively correlated with previous broader sensory phenomena. Current global functioning was marginally correlated with change in tics. Change in global functioning was significantly correlated with change in OCS and marginally correlated with change in premonitory urges. Due to the small sample size, it was not possible to use a multiple regression analysis to conclude that sensory phenomena, tics, and OCS predict global functioning in adolescents and adults with TS. However, it was suggested that further investigation of this relationship would be meaningful.
Highlights
Tourette syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics [1]
We found that Yale-Brown Obsessive– Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) total scores were significantly higher in the latter group (p = 0.02), no other significant differences were found (p = 0.12–0.93)
The adolescents and adults with TS in this study demonstrated significant improvement in obsessive– compulsive symptoms (OCS) after an average of four years of usual treatment, their sensory phenomena, tics, and global functioning showed little change
Summary
Tourette syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics [1]. One study indicated that sensory phenomena, especially premonitory urges, were significantly correlated with vocal tics and OCS in adults with TS [3]. Our previous studies showed that premonitory urges and broader sensory phenomena including “just right” perception are different in terms of their relationships with OCS dimensions [5] and clinical course after Deep Brain Stimulation [6]. We found that both premonitory urges and broader sensory phenomena were significantly positively correlated with total tics, vocal tics, and OCS, while premonitory urges were significantly and negatively correlated with global functioning [5]. There have been no investigations of the influence of whole sensory phenomena and their related features (e.g., tics and OCS) on global functioning during the clinical course of TS. We hypothesized that more severe previous sensory phenomena, tics, and OCS would linearly predict poorer current global functioning
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