Table 1.
Patient characteristics and features of tic attacks.
| Pt no. | Sex | Age at onset (years;months) | Developmental comorbidities | Frequency of tic attacks | Location of tic attacks | Previous management | Thoughts associated with tic attacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M | 9;07 | Worrier | Occasionally | At home after school | A&E admissions, epilepsy investigations | Worries about performing in the school play |
| 2 | M | 13;04 | Depression, social anxiety, headaches | Weekly | At school | A&E admissions, school avoidance | Worries about school work and peers |
| 3 | M | 13;00 | Social anxiety, low mood | Occasionally | At school | A&E admissions, neurological, and epilepsy investigations, school avoidance | Worries about people noticing tics |
| 4 | F | 15;00 | OCD, social anxiety | Weekly | At home in the evening | Parental chaperone, school avoidance | Worries about the tics and friendships |
| 5 | M | 14;02 | Depression, OCD, social anxiety, pica | Daily | At home and school | School avoidance | Worries about being bullied for tics and tics getting in way of school work/exams |
| 6 | F | 9;01 | Headaches, worrier | Daily | In bed before going to sleep | A&E attendance, school avoidance, parents went to California for cannaboids treatment | Worries about the tics getting in the way of sleep |
| 7 | M | 11;00 | OCD, specific phobias | Occasionally | At home | Parental reassurance | Worries about school and tics |
| 8 | F | 7;11 | Worrier | Weekly | At home and in school | Mother attending school lessons and school avoidance | Worries about the tics not stopping |
| 9 | M | 10;04 | ASD, social anxiety | Occasionally | On public transport | Parental reassurance | Worries about people noticing the tics |
| 10 | M | 10;08 | OCD, stereotypies | Occasionally | At home | Parental reassurance | Worries about school |
| 11 | M | 8;03 | Social anxiety | Multiple times a day | In bed before going to sleep and in the morning getting ready for school | A&E admissions, epilepsy investigations, school avoidance | Worries about the tics not stopping and people noticing tics at school |
| 12 | M | 13;05 | OCD, worrier | Occasionally | At home | Acute presentation to clinic, parental reassurance | Worries about the tics |
OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder; A&E, accident and emergency.