Psychogenic movement disorders in children: characteristics and predictors of outcome.

Psychogenic movement disorders are defined as hyperkinetic or hypokinetic movement disorders associated with underlying psychological disorders. Psychogenic movement disorders account for 1% to 9% of all neurologic diagnoses. The assessment and treatment of psychogenic movement disorders can be complex. We report patients seen over the past 5 years, diagnosed with psychogenic movement disorder. We discuss in this article some patient characteristics and some strategies that are effective in the management of this group of patients. The case examples presented in the current article demonstrate the importance of two factors, a multidisciplinary approach and engaging the family, that are essential components in the treatment of psychogenic movement disorders.