Evaluation of serum vitamin D levels in children with tic disorder who were referred to Besat clinics in Kerman during, 2019-2020: a brief report

Tic disturbances are a group of developmental neurological disorders that often occur in childhood because of abrupt and automatic constrictions of muscles. This study aimed to evaluate the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in children with a tic disorders.

This present case-control research was performed on 63 children with tic disorders and 63 children who were healthy and were referred to Besat clinics in Kerman, Iran from October 2019 to October 2020. The clinical information of patients with tic disorders was collected using a questionnaire. Serum vitamin 25(OH) D3 levels were assessed in patients with tic disturbances after identifying tic disorder.

In the group of children with tic disorders, the highest number of patients were girls and in the group of children who were healthy, the highest number of patients were girls. The average age of patients in the case group was 10.37±0.31 years old and the average age of patients in the control group was 10.06±0.41 years old. The average age difference between the children with tic disorders and healthy children was not statistically significant (P=0.971). The average body mass index (BMI) in the case group was 16.98±0.35 and the average BMI in the control group was 16.0±84.56. The average body mass index difference between the children with tic and healthy children was not statistically significant (P=0.838). The mean serum Vit 25(OH) D3 levels in the control group were higher than the average serum level of vitamin D in the case group. The mean serum vitamin D level difference between the children with tic disorders and healthy children was statistically considerable (P=0.036).

The results showed that the average serum level of vitamin D in children with tic disorders was significantly lower than in children who were healthy. To investigate and confirm this relationship, more long-term studies with a larger number of patients are needed.