Symptoms and sleep characteristics of Tic Disorder children with allergic diseases: a case-control study

Panpan Zhang^1,2Yang Liu^1,2Na Wang^1,2Tao Ma³Jinyuan Wang^1,2Guixiang Zhang¹Yifan Cui^1*

• ¹Dalian Women and Children’s Medical Center(Group), Dalian, China
• ²Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, China
• ³The First People’s Hospital of Yulin, Yulin, Shaanxi Province, China

Introduction: Recent studies have shown a close relationship between Tic disorder (TD) and allergic diseases in children, and allergies diseases have a significant impact on children's sleep. Regrettably, it is unclear whether there are distinct characteristics of symptoms and sleep characteristics of children with TD who have comorbid allergic diseases. Objective: To explore the symptoms and sleep characteristics of TD children with allergic diseases. Methods: This was a case-control study, 242 TD children (aged 3-14 years) were enrolled, of whom 168 had allergic diseases and 74 did not have allergic diseases. Record general information and allergies for all children. Collected Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) to assess TD symptoms. Every guardian of children diagnosed with TD is required to complete the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Results: Compared to TD children without allergic disease group, the impairment scale score and total tic score of YGTSS in comorbid allergic disease group were significantly higher (all p< 0.05); there was a significant rise in the parasomnias score, sleep disordered breathing score, and CSHQ total scores among the TD group with combined allergic diseases (all p< 0.05). Further analyses revealed that there was no significant difference in TD symptoms and sleep between groups with different numbers of allergic diseases, and there was no statistical difference between different control levels (all p> 0.05). Significant differences in TD symptoms and sleep occur among different types of allergic disease groups. Among them, the impairment scale score, total tic score and sleep disordered breathing scores of the group with allergic rhinitis were significantly increased (all p< 0.05); the total motor score and total tic score of the group with allergic conjunctivitis increased significantly, and the daytime sleepiness score decreased significantly (all p< 0.05). In addition, we found a correlation between the YGTSS and CSHQ scores. Conclusion: This research found that TD children with allergic diseases had more severe clinical symptoms and higher CSHQ total scores. The clinical and sleep changes are particularly significant in TD children with different types of allergic diseases, especially allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis.