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Tourette Syndrome Often Overlooked in Girls

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Jan 17, 2025.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Jan. 17, 2025 -- Tourette syndrome is not being diagnosed promptly in women with the condition.

Women with Tourette syndrome are less likely to receive a diagnosis for the disorder, researchers reported in a study published Jan. 15 in the journal Neurology.

They also take longer to be diagnosed with the disorder, and typically are older than boys at time of diagnosis, researchers found.

“These results suggest that health care professionals and parents should be screening female individuals with tics and seeking care for them to give them a better chance of managing tics over time,” lead researcher Dr. Marisela Dy-Hollins, a pediatric neurologist with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said in a news release.

Tourette causes people to suffer from tics -- sudden and difficult-to-control repetitive movements and sounds.

For example, people with Tourette might suffer the irresistible urge to blink their eyes, hum, shrug their shoulders, clear their throat, or blurt out unusual sounds or offensive words.

Tourette syndrome is currently diagnosed about three times more frequently in boys than girls, researchers said in background notes.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from a set of people recruited for genetics research into tic disorders.

They identified more than 2,100 people with Tourette syndrome, and nearly 300 others with a separate condition called persistent motor or vocal tic disorder.

About 61% of females in the group had been diagnosed with Tourette before the study, compared with 77% of males, researchers found.

After adjusting for other factors, researchers concluded that females were 54% less likely to have been diagnosed prior to the study, even though they had the condition.

It also took a year longer for girls to be diagnosed than boys -- about three years on average, compared to two, researchers explained.

Girls tended to be diagnosed at an average of 13 years old, compared to 11 years old for boys.

However, girls also were slightly older when their tic symptoms started -- about 6.5 years old versus 6 years old for boys, results show.

Prompt detection of Tourette syndrome is important to help people manage the condition, Dy-Hollins said.

“Treatment options include education, behavioral therapies, medication and watchful waiting, as tics often improve with time,” Dy-Hollins added.

It’s not clear exactly why diagnosis lags among girls when it comes to Tourette syndrome.

“More research is needed to understand these differences between female and male individuals in these tic disorders, as well as research involving racial and ethnic populations,” Dy-Hollins concluded.

Sources

  • American Academy of Neurology, news release, Jan. 15, 2024

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted January 2025

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