Motor stereotypies in adult patients with Tourette syndrome

Maneeka Ubhi, Kanu Achinivu, Stefano Seri, Andrea E Cavanna

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Aim: Correctly diagnosing repetitive behaviors in patients with Tourette syndrome (TS) can be challenging.
The differential diagnosis between tics and stereotypies is of particular importance, because of treatment
implications. Methods: We assessed the prevalence and clinical characteristics of stereotypies in a large
sample of adult patients with TS attending a specialist clinic. Results: Mild stereotypies were reported
by 21/148 patients (14.2%). Patients with stereotypies were significantly more likely to have a comorbid
diagnosis of Asperger syndrome, attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive-compulsive
disorder, compared with patients without stereotypies. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that
the presence of Asperger syndrome significantly predicted stereotypy severity. Conclusion: Stereotypies
are not rare in adults with TS and other neurodevelopmental conditions, especially Asperger syndrome.
Original languageEnglish
Article number0031
JournalFuture Neurology
Volume15
Issue number2
Early online date11 May 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2020

Bibliographical note

© 2020 Maneeka Ubhi, Kanu Achinivu, Stefano Seri & Andrea E Cavanna . This work is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license,
visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Keywords

  • Tourette syndrome
  • asperger syndrome
  • autism spectrum disorder
  • stereotypies
  • tics

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