The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on tic symptoms in children and young people: a prospective cohort study

Charlotte L Hall, Louise Marston, Kareem Khan, Beverley J Brown, Charlotte Sanderson, Per Andrén, Sophie Bennett, Isobel Heyman, David Mataix-Cols, Eva Serlachius, Chris Hollis, Tara Murphy, Charlotte L Hall, Louise Marston, Kareem Khan, Beverley J Brown, Charlotte Sanderson, Per Andrén, Sophie Bennett, Isobel Heyman, David Mataix-Cols, Eva Serlachius, Chris Hollis, Tara Murphy

Abstract

To understand how children and young people with tic disorders were affected by COVID-19, we compared pre and during pandemic scores on the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS). Participants were young people (N = 112; male:78%; 9-17 years) randomised to the control arm of the "ORBIT-Trial" (ISRCTN70758207, ClinicalTrials.gov-NCT03483493). For this analysis, the control arm was split into two groups: one group was followed up to 12-months' post-randomisation before the pandemic started (pre-COVID group, n = 44); the other group was impacted by the pandemic at the 12-month follow-up (during-COVID group, n = 47). Mixed effects linear regression modelling was conducted to explore differences in YGTSS at 6- and 12-months post-randomisation. There were no significant differences in tic symptom or severity between participants who were assessed before and during COVID-19. This finding was not influenced by age, gender, symptoms of anxiety or autism spectrum disorder. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly impact existing tic symptoms.

Keywords: Children and young people; Covid-19; Mental health; Tics; Tourette syndrome.

Conflict of interest statement

DM-C reports personal fees from Elsevier, personal fees from UpToDate Inc. outside the submitted work. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

© 2022. The Author(s).

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