Tic disorders in children in the outpatient practice of a medical psychologist

Abstract

Background. The war in Ukraine is a factor of the psycho-emotional trauma in children. As you know, transient motor tics can be observed in almost 20 % of children in the world. Chronic tic and Tourette’s syndrome are also considered common among children. The purpose is to establish the prevalence of tic disorders among children who consult a medical psychologist, ta­king into account gender and age, to determine the directions of therapy. Materials and methods. The study was conducted from March 2023 to March 2024. Three hundred and five children (168 boys and 137 girls) aged 2 to 17 years were examined, who initially consulted a psychologist at the consultative diagnostic polyclinic of the National Specialized Children’s Hospital OHMATDYT. Results. Tic disorders were found in 31 (10.2 %) children: 15 (10.9 %) girls and 16 (9.5 %) boys. Girls with tics were significantly younger than boys with tics and girls from the comparison group. Chronic tic without vocalization was detected in 20 children, tic cough — in 5, vocal tics — in 3, Tourette’s syndrome in 3 cases (girls aged 8–10). Attention was drawn to the pronounced anxiety of the children, which manifested itself particularly in the subjects of their drawings. None of the children showed signs of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infection or pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome. The therapy included educational interventions and cognitive behavioral therapy. Conclusions. Every tenth child, who initially consults a medical psychologist, suffered from tic disorder, which required educational activities and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Keywords

• tic disorders
• a diagnosis of children in infancy
• psychologist