Tic disorders in children and adolescents: does the clinical presentation differ in males and females? A report by the EMTICS group

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Blanca Garcia-Delgar
  • Mateu Servera
  • Barbara J Coffey
  • Luisa Lázaro
  • Thaïra J C Openneer
  • Noa Benaroya-Milshtein
  • Tami Steinberg
  • Pieter J Hoekstra
  • Andrea Dietrich
  • Astrid Morer
  • Alan Apter
  • Valentina Baglioni
  • Juliane Ball
  • Emese Bognar
  • Bianka Burger
  • Judith Buse
  • Francesco Cardona
  • Marta Correa Vela
  • Debes, Nanette M Monique Mol
  • Maria Cristina Ferro
  • Carolin Fremer
  • Blanca Garcia-Delgar
  • Mariangela Gulisano
  • Annelieke Hagen
  • Hagstrøm, Julie
  • Tammy J. Hedderly
  • Isobel Heyman
  • Chaim Huyser
  • Marcos Madruga-Garrido
  • Anna Marotta
  • Davide Martino
  • Pablo Mir
  • Norbert Müller
  • Kirsten Müller-Vahl
  • Alexander Münchau
  • Peter Nagy
  • Valeria Neri
  • Thaïra J.C. Openneer
  • Alessandra Pellico
  • Kerstin J. Plessen
  • Cesare Porcelli
  • Renata Rizzo
  • Veit Roessner
  • Daphna Ruhrman
  • Jaana M.L. Schnell
  • Paola Rosaria Silvestri
  • Liselotte Skov
  • Tamar Steinberg
  • Friederike Tagwerker Gloor
  • Zsanett Tarnok
  • on behalf of the EMTICS collaborative group

Tic disorders have a strong male predominance, with a male-to-female ratio of 4:1 in Tourette syndrome (TS) and 2:1 in persistent tic disorders. In other neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the disparity in sex distribution has been partially related to differences in symptom presentation between males and females. In tic disorders, however, little research has been conducted on this topic, probably due to the limited access to large samples with a significant proportion of females. The aim of this study was to describe sex differences in the clinical presentation of tic disorders in children and adolescents in one of the largest pediatric samples with TS/persistent tic disorders (n = 709, 23.3% females) recruited as part of the European Multicenter Tics in Children Study (EMTICS). Validated measures assessed the severity of tics and comorbid psychiatric symptoms. Using mixed-effect models, we found that sex had a significant influence on the severity of tics, ADHD symptoms, ASD symptoms, and emotional problems. Males had more severe symptoms than females, except for emotional problems. We also observed a statistically significant interaction between sex and age on the severity of tics and compulsions, with females showing higher symptom severity with increasing age than males. These findings indicate that the clinical presentation of TS/persistent tic disorders varies with sex. Males seem to exhibit a more noticeable pattern of clinical symptoms at a younger age that may contribute to their earlier detection in comparison to females.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Volume31
Pages (from-to)1539–1548
Number of pages10
ISSN1018-8827
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

    Research areas

  • Adolescents, Children, Sex differences, Tourette syndrome

ID: 302456010