A controlled study of psychopathology and associated symptoms in Tourette syndrome

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a neurobehavioural disorder of genetic origin, although the precise inheritance pattern is as yet undetermined. This study was designed to describe symptomatology in GTS subjects. It describes the severity of depressive, anxiety and obsessional symptoms when compared to other samples of GTS patients, matched controls and normative data.

87 consecutive GTS clinic referrals (children and adults) were interviewed in 1996 and 1997 using the National Hospital Interview Schedule, the Yale Global Tourette Severity Score, the Diagnostic Confidence Index, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Spielberger State-Trait anxiety Index (STAI) and Leyton Obsessional Inventory (LOI). 52 healthy controls were interviewed using the BDI, STAI and LOI. The clinical status of the subjects was described and ratings of psychopathology were compared with the control group and with normative data. Data were compared with previous data from similar clinic samples.

In this controlled study, GTS subjects scored highly on ratings of depression, state anxiety and obsessionality when compared with controls and with normative data. Scores in the subjects group were similar to previous findings in clinic samples of people with GTS.

People with GTS who attend clinics have a variety of psychological symptoms that are significantly more severe than controls. Accessory symptoms (e.g. coprophenomena, echophenomena) were also very common in the subject group. Psychological symptoms may occur as part of the disease, a reaction to disability or as a result of ascertainment bias.