Researchers invite doctors and loved ones to be more attentive to motor and vocal tics in women to locate and better diagnose Tourette syndrome.
- A study shows that women with Tourette syndrome, a disorder characterized by tics, are underdiagnosed compared to men. Only 61% of women receive a diagnosis before the study, against 77% of men.
- Women are diagnosed later (13 years against 11 years for men) and the delay between the appearance of symptoms and the diagnosis is longer (3 years against 2 years). Tics appear slightly later in women.
- “Health professionals and parents must be attentive to tics for women to offer them suitable follow -up.”
A new study published in the journal Neurology reveals that women are diagnosed with Tourette syndrome three times less often than men, at a more advanced age. A significant gap between the sexes which raises many questions about access to care and suitable monitoring.
What is Tourette syndrome?
Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, named after the neurologist who described it for the first time in the 19th century, affected approximately 0.5 % of the population. It is a neurodevelopment disorder that is characterized by motor or vocal tics – movements and/or brief and repetitive sounds, uncontrollable or partially controllable. To make a diagnosis, these disorders must persist for at least a year.
Tics appear during childhood, generally between 6 and 8 years old, and are in 85 % of cases associated later with one or more psychiatric disorders : attention deficit with or without hyperactivity, obsessive compulsive disorders, autism spectrum disorders …
A later diagnosis in women
As part of their work, the researchers analyzed a sample of 2,109 people with Tourette syndrome and 294 people with persistent tics, which involve tics of a single type (vocal or engine). As a result, it appeared that only 61 % of women had diagnosed before the start of the study, compared to 77 % of men. On average, women were diagnosed at 13, two years later than men. The delay between the appearance of symptoms and the diagnosis is also longer in women: three years on average, against two years for men.
In addition, if the symptoms of tics generally start at 6 years in men, they manifest themselves at a slightly more advanced age in women (6.5 years on average). For persistent motor or vocal tics disorders, it is the opposite: symptoms appear earlier in women.
“These results suggest that healthcare professionals and parents must pay attention to tics for women to offer them suitable follow -up”underline the researchers in a press release. Treatments include education, behavioral therapies, drugs or active surveillance, because ICTs often diminish over time.
