Affiliation:
1. Department of Neuropsychiatry BSMHFT and University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
2. Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders Institute of Neurology and University College London London UK
3. School of Health and Life Sciences Aston Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment, Aston University Birmingham UK
4. School of Medicine and Surgery University of Milano‐Bicocca Milan Italy
5. Department of Child Neuropsychiatry IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori Monza Italy
Abstract
AbstractBackground and purposeUntil the outbreak reported during the COVID‐19 pandemic, functional tics were considered to be a relatively rare clinical phenotype, as opposed to other functional movement disorders such as functional tremor and dystonia. To better characterize this phenotype, we compared the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who developed functional tics during the pandemic and those of patients with other functional movement disorders.MethodsData from 110 patients were collected at the same neuropsychiatry centre: 66 consecutive patients who developed functional tics without other functional motor symptoms or neurodevelopmental tics and 44 patients with a mix of functional dystonia, tremor, gait, and myoclonus.ResultsBoth groups were characterized by female sex preponderance (70%–80%) and (sub)acute onset of functional symptoms (~80%). However, patients with functional tics had a significantly earlier age at onset of functional symptoms (21 vs. 39 years). Exposure to relevant social media content was reported by almost half of the patients with functional tics, but by none of the patients with other functional movement disorders. Comorbidity profiles were similar, with relatively high rates of anxiety/affective symptoms and other functional neurological symptoms (nonepileptic attacks).ConclusionsPatients who developed functional tics during the pandemic represent a phenotypic variant of the wider group of patients with functional movement disorders, associated with younger age at onset and influenced by pandemic‐related factors, including increased exposure to specific social media content. Diagnostic protocols and treatment interventions should be tailored to address the specific features of this newly defined phenotype.
Subject
Neurology (clinical),Neurology
Cited by
1 articles.
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