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Familial recurrence risk high for Tourette Syndrome, OCD

Tourette Syndrome/chronic tic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder have a high recurrence risk among siblings and children of parents who are also diagnosed with the disorders, according to data published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Data were derived from patients born January 1980 through December 2007 in Denmark, with follow-up in December 2013.

The overall prevalence of Tourette Syndrome/chronic tic disorder was 0.42% (95% CI, 0.41%-0.43%); and the prevalence of OCD was 0.84% (95% CI, 0.81%-0.87%), according to researchers.

The researchers identified 5,596 patients diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome/chronic tic disorder; 6,191 with OCD; and 412 with both disorders.

Mean sibling risk for Tourette Syndrome/chronic tic disorder across all birth years was 9.88% (95% CI, 8.02%-12.16%), and 4.01% (95% CI, 2.78%-5.76%) for OCD, according to data.

Patients who had an oldest sibling with Tourette Syndrome/chronic tic disorder were 18 times more likely to be diagnosed with the disorder, compared with patients without a diagnosed oldest sibling (RRR=18.63; 95% CI, 15.34-22.63), according to data.

Conversely, patients with an oldest sibling with OCD were five times more likely to be diagnosed with OCD (RRR=4.89; 95% CI, 3.45-6.93), according to data.

Additional data indicate that patients with a parent diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome/chronic tic disorder were 61 times more likely to have the disorder (adjusted HR = 61.02; 95% CI, 44.43-83.82), the researchers wrote. 

The parent-offspring recurrence risk for Tourette Syndrome/chronic tic disorder was 19% (95% CI, 14.09%-25.34%), and the recurrence risk for OCD was 4.06% (95% CI, 2.85%-5.78%).

The researchers plan to examine environmental risk factors that may contribute to this risk in future studies, they wrote. – by Samantha Costa

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.