Tourette syndrome and socioeconomic status

Background. Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics. Psychiatric comorbidity is common and includes obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder, depression and anxiety. Although TS has been consistently shown to affect quality of life, little is known about the relationship between TS, social status and occupation. Objective. We set out to conduct an exploratory study to investigate the association between TS and socioeconomic class. Methods. A clinical sample of 137 adult patients with TS was assessed for TS-related variables (both tic severity ratings and psychiatric comorbidity) and socioeconomic class (categorised according to the Office for National Statistics classification system). Results. We found no significant difference in socioeconomic class distribution between patients with TS and psychiatric comorbidity (‘TS plus’, N=88) and patients with uncomplicated TS (‘pure TS’, N=49) (P=0.205). Both clinician- and patient-reported tic severity ratings were significantly higher among unemployed patients compared with patients in the highest socioeconomic class (P=0.004 and P<0.001, respectively). Conclusion. These findings suggest that tic severity per se can have a significant impact on the position within social hierarchy and prompt further research into the complex relationship between TS and socioeconomic class.