Rachael Burke1, Patricia Jokl Graese2, Anastasia Barnes2, Irene Malaty2
1Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 2Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at the University of Florida
Objective:
To review patterns of sensory sensitivity in patients with tics and Tourette's syndrome (TS) to gain insight into this under-reported phenomenon.
Background:
Patients with TS have been described in small studies to experience heightened sensitivity to tactile, auditory, and visual stimuli. This may arise from dysfunction in sensory processing rather than lowered sensory thresholds. The prevalence of increased sensory sensitivities in children and adults with TS is not yet known.
Design/Methods:
Patients presenting to TS clinic were sorted into adult (18 y<), adolescent (12-17 y), or pediatric (3-11y) provided the Glasgow Sensory Questionnaire (GSQ) (12y< ) or the Parent-completed Glasgow Sensory Questionnaire (P-GSQ) (11y>) with the addition of five exploratory questions assessing responses to textures, clothing, and sound. One-sample t-tests were used to compare total scores. One way ANOVA analyses were performed comparing average questionnaire scores by cohort and sensory modality averages.
Results:
41 patients have been enrolled; n=26 adult, n=6 adolescent and n=9 pediatric). The average score among all cohorts was 56.85, which is significantly higher than the normative mean of 38.3 (one sample t-test t(40)=5, p<0.001, Cohen’s D=0.8) and significantly below the normative mean in ASD (one sample t-test t(40)=2.3, p=0.026, Cohen’s D=0.4). Average scores for adult, adolescent, and pediatric cohorts were 46.65, 91.50, and 54.55 respectively. These were found to be significantly different (ANOVA F=10.90, p<0.001, Tukey’s HSD with significant differences between the adolescent and adult cohort (p<0.001) and adolescent and pediatric cohort (p<0.001). Sub-analyses of sensory modality show significant differences (ANOVA F=6.49, p<0.001) among modalities, with significantly higher rates of hyper and hypo auditory sensitivity.
Conclusions:
There are sensory disturbances in TS and tic disorders higher than a normative threshold. Adolescents appear to have the most pronounced sensitivity. Auditory sensation appears most affected. Future work aims to consider comorbidities and further age trends.
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