BACKGROUND: An earlier small-scale study of children with autism revealed that 8.1% of such patients were co-morbid for Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS). The present study is a large scale test of whether this result replicates. METHOD: Four hundred and forty-seven pupils from nine schools for children and adolescents with autism were screened for the presence of motor and vocal tics. RESULTS: Subsequent family interviews confirmed the co-morbid diagnosis of definite GTS in 19 children, giving a prevalence rate of 4.3%. A further 10 children were diagnosed with probable GTS (2.2%). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the rate of GTS in autism exceeds that expected by chance, and the combined rate (6.5%) is similar to the rates found in the smaller-scale study. Methodological considerations and alternative explanations for an increased prevalence are discussed.
BACKGROUND: An earlier small-scale study of children with autism revealed that 8.1% of such patients were co-morbid for Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS). The present study is a large scale test of whether this result replicates. METHOD: Four hundred and forty-seven pupils from nine schools for children and adolescents with autism were screened for the presence of motor and vocal tics. RESULTS: Subsequent family interviews confirmed the co-morbid diagnosis of definite GTS in 19 children, giving a prevalence rate of 4.3%. A further 10 children were diagnosed with probable GTS (2.2%). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the rate of GTS in autism exceeds that expected by chance, and the combined rate (6.5%) is similar to the rates found in the smaller-scale study. Methodological considerations and alternative explanations for an increased prevalence are discussed.
Authors: Thomas V Fernandez; Stephan J Sanders; Ilana R Yurkiewicz; A Gulhan Ercan-Sencicek; Young-Shin Kim; Daniel O Fishman; Melanie J Raubeson; Youeun Song; Katsuhito Yasuno; Winson S C Ho; Kaya Bilguvar; Joseph Glessner; Su Hee Chu; James F Leckman; Robert A King; Donald L Gilbert; Gary A Heiman; Jay A Tischfield; Pieter J Hoekstra; Bernie Devlin; Hakon Hakonarson; Shrikant M Mane; Murat Günel; Matthew W State Journal: Biol Psychiatry Date: 2011-12-14 Impact factor: 13.382
Authors: Erwin Petek; Thomas Schwarzbraun; Abdul Noor; Megha Patel; Kazuhiko Nakabayashi; Sanaa Choufani; Christian Windpassinger; Mara Stamenkovic; Mary M Robertson; Harald N Aschauer; Hugh M D Gurling; Peter M Kroisel; Klaus Wagner; Stephen W Scherer; John B Vincent Journal: Mol Genet Genomics Date: 2006-10-17 Impact factor: 3.291
Authors: Tomas Larson; Henrik Anckarsäter; Carina Gillberg; Ola Ståhlberg; Eva Carlström; Björn Kadesjö; Maria Råstam; Paul Lichtenstein; Christopher Gillberg Journal: BMC Psychiatry Date: 2010-01-07 Impact factor: 3.630