Comorbidity of Tourette's and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders in Children

This project was conducted to evaluate the rate of comorbidity of Tourette's disorder with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). All of the patients diagnosed with Tourette's disorder, a total of 20 cases that had been referred to Child Psychiatric Ward of Roozbeh Hospital since its inception were evaluated. They were compared with 20 patients afflicted with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and 20 OCD patients. Data was collected via Yale Tic Severity Scale and analyzed by descriptive statistical methods, Fisher’s LSD, and c2 statistical test. The mean age of onset of Tourette’s disorder was 8.5 years (SD: 0.65) whereas the onset of OCD was 14.5 years (SD: 0.7). The ratio of male to female in Tourette’s disorder was four to one and in OCD, it was two to one. The level of correlation between these two disorders was statis- tically significant. There was not a significant level of correlation obtained for the presence of co-morbidity of Tourette’s and OCD disorders in the immediate family members of the patients. The level of comorbidity of OCD in children afflicted with Tourette’s disorder is remarkable.