The Prevalence of Tourette Syndrome and Other Tic Disorders in Saudi Arabia

Background: Tic disorders (TD), including Tourette syndrome, are considered as one of the prevalent neurological conditions across the world which affects pediatric population. Tourette syndrome (TS), also called Gilles de la Tourette syndrome or Tourette disorder, a clinical subtype of TD with the most severe and persistent symptoms, is a complex multifaceted neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by multiple motor and at least one phonic tic starting before the age of 18 and lasting for at least 1 year.

Objectives: Our study is designed to assess the prevalence of Tourette syndrome and other tic disorders among Saudi population and examine the sociodemographic factors including age, sex, education, and birthplace.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey study conducted in Saudi population. An online questionnaire utilized to collect information from the population via various social media applications. The required minimum sample size is determined to be 384 participants. For statistical analyzation, the Statistical Package of Social Science Software (SPSS) program, version 20 (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) was used.

Results: The study sample consisted of 2793 participants, 73% of them were females and 27% were males. 43.6% aged between 20- 30 years old and 33.4% aged less than 20 years old. 9.7% of participants suffer from Tourette syndrome while 5.7% of participants have a child who suffer from Tourette syndrome. Regarding co-morbid diseases, 23.7% suffer from anxiety disorder, 16.7% have sleeping disorder, 16.2% have depression, 10.8% eating disorder and 9.9% have obsessive-compulsive disorder. As for children with Tourette syndrome, 20.3% suffer from anxiety disorder, 19.5% have sleeping disorder, 18% have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, 13.5% eating disorder and 7.9% have obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Conclusion: Prevalence of TS among adults and children is higher than reported in previous figures. TS is associated with psychological and neurological diseases especially among children. TS should no longer be considered merely a motor disorder and, most importantly, that TS is no longer a unitary condition, as it was previously thought. Clinical assessment of children with chronic tic disorders warrants examination of other problems such as ADHD, disruptive behavior and anxiety.