Prevalence of Tourette-Syndrome

[Hermann]

german experts discuss a prevalence of tourette's in my country between 0,05 and 0,10 % of the population (0,10% = 80.000). some of the scientists think the prevalence is higher and expect it between 0,10 and 0,50 %. but the verification of all assessments is not possible at the moment, because there are no actual studies about.

 

how many people are estimated to be affected in usa?

 

best regards hermann

[kim]

Herman,

 

Here are the links to a couple of articles, that I found, while looking for the same statistics.

 

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tourett...il_tourette.htm

 

*The early symptoms of TS are almost always noticed first in childhood, with the average onset between the ages of 7 and 10 years. TS occurs in people from all ethnic groups; males are affected about three to four times more often than females. It is estimated that 200,000 Americans have the most severe form of TS, and as many as one in 100 exhibit milder and less complex symptoms such as chronic motor or vocal tics or transient tics of childhood.

 

*Epidemiology and clinical science. Careful epidemiological studies now estimate the prevalence of TS to be substantially higher than previously thought with a wider range of clinical severity. Furthermore, clinical studies are providing new findings regarding TS and co-existing conditions. These include subtyping studies of TS and OCD, an examination of the link between ADHD and learning problems in children with TS, a new appreciation of sensory tics, and the role of co-existing disorders in rage attacks. One of the most important and controversial areas of TS science involves the relationship between TS and autoimmune brain injury associated with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infections or other infectious processes. There are a number of epidemiological and clinical investigations currently underway in this intriguing area.

 

All NINDS-prepared information is in the public domain and may be freely copied. Credit to the NINDS or the NIH is appreciated.

 

Last updated April 07, 2006

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http://www.brookespublishing.com/email/arc...01/may01DD2.htm

 

May 2001

Genetics

 

The National Institutes of Health officially estimate that 100,000 Americans have full-blown TS. Some genetic studies suggest that the figure may be as high as one in two hundred if those with chronic multiple tics and/or transient childhood tics are included in the count.

 

 

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourette_syndrome

 

Tourette's syndrome has historically been described as a rare disorder, with about 5 to 10 people in 10,000 having TS.[10] However, multiple studies published since 2000 demonstrate that the prevalence is much higher than previously thought, and that Tourette's syndrome can no longer be considered rare. Contemporary prevalence estimates range from 1 to 3 per 1,000[28] to 10 per 1,000.[29] A large, community-based study suggested that over 19% of school-age children have tics, with almost 4% of children in regular education fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for Tourette's Syndrome. The children with tic disorders in that study were usually undiagnosed.[30] As many as 1 in 100 people may experience some form of tic disorder, which includes transient tics, chronic tics, or Tourette's Syndrome.

 

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http://www.education.ucsb.edu/jimerson/tour.html

 

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/431108_print

[Laurensmom]

Here is a study from 1998 which took a mainstream school population in the UK and used the DSM criteria to determine prevalence.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...p;dopt=Abstract

 

The aim of this study was to ascertain accurately the prevalence of Tourette syndrome (TS) in a mainstream school population. All year 9 pupils (aged 13 to 14 years) in a mainstream secondary school were investigated using a two-stage procedure. Standardized questionnaires were completed by parents, teachers, and pupils. Class observations were also carried out to identify tics. Those pupils identified as having tics underwent a semistructured interview to determine whether they had TS according to DSM-III-R criteria. Data were available from at least one source (parent, teacher, or self-reports) on 166 of the 167 pupils in the year. Five subjects were identified as having TS according to DSM-III-R criteria, yielding a prevalence estimate of 299 per 10,000 pupils in this age group. The results of this study suggest that TS in the community as a whole is more common and milder than those prevalence estimates and descriptions of the disorder based on TS encountered in secondary or tertiary health-care service settings.

 

So .... 299 per 10,000 or about 3 per 100 students in the UK have TS (based on this impartial study) in essence, it's about 1 in 34 i.e. 1 per classroom. I would venture to guess that US figures in an impartial study may be similar? I think I'm calculating that correctly?

[Hermann]

hi kim and laurensmom,

 

thanks for this interesting postings! maybe this data could increase the awareness for people with tourette's.

 

ciao hermann

 

 

ps: the link to the information of wikipedia about tourette's is just amazing!