Clinical Characteristics and Temporal Properties of Individual Tics in Persistent Tic Disorder

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · Apr 23, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is looking to better understand the timing and characteristics of tics in children who have been experiencing multiple tics for over a year. Tics are sudden movements or sounds that happen without the person meaning to do them. The study aims to find out if the timing of tics is related to how long they've been occurring, how well a child can control them, and whether treatments for tics can change their timing.

To participate, children aged 8 to 12 who have a diagnosed tic disorder like Tourette syndrome may be eligible. They should have started experiencing tics before the age of 10 and show a certain level of tic severity. Participants will meet with a researcher six times, where they’ll answer questions about their tics and undergo treatment for them. The first and last visits will include watching their tics and completing a computer task. This trial is a great opportunity for kids who want to learn more about their tics and possibly improve their control over them.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 8 to 12 years old child who meets the criteria for diagnosis of a persistent tic disorder (e.g., persistent motor/vocal tic disorder or Tourette's disorder; i.e., engages in motor and/or vocal tics that have been present for at least one year)
• • The child's tics initially onset before age 10.
• • The child currently engages in at least four different motor and/or vocal tics per minute, on average, during a 10-minute observation period.
• • The child has a minimum Total Tic Severity Score of 20 on the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (10 for motor or vocal tics only)
• • If the child is on tic-suppressing or psychotropic medication, the dose has been stable for at least 6 weeks with no changes or planned changes in medication status during the study period.
• • Parent and child read and speak fluent English.
• • The parent is 18+ years of age.
• • Access to a private computer with high-speed internet access and private setting.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • If, based on the assessment of the study investigators, the child has any serious psychiatric or neurological condition that would interfere with study participation (e.g., unmanaged attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)
• • The child has a self- or parent-reported history of, or is reasonably suspected to have or meet criteria for, functional neurological symptom disorder.
• • The child has received more than two sessions of behavioral treatment for tics for which tic suppression was a primary component.
• • The child has a Total Tic Severity Score of 40+ on the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (20+ for motor/vocal tics only).