Tourette syndrome: issues in diagnosis

Information was accumulated by self-report questionnaire from 462 Canadian Tourette syndrome (TS) patients. The mean age of onset of the syndrome was 7.4 years, while the mean age of medical diagnosis was 15.2 years, suggesting that the mean lag between onset of symptoms and diagnosis was 7.8 years. Seventy-three percent of patients reported initial misdiagnosis by physicians and only 33% of the patients reported receiving their first information about TS from physicians. Respondents indicated that they were typically diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Disorder, Hyperactivity, or Minimal Brain Dysfunction prior to the establishment of the TS diagnosis. Factors involved in the delay in physician diagnosis of the syndrome, as well as the association between TS and other neuropsychiatric disorders, are also discussed.