Epidemiology

Overall, tic disorders occur more commonly in children than in adults and more so in males than in females. They are observed with higher frequency in populations with special educational needs.[1][4][5] Provisional tic disorders (tics present for <1 year) appear to be very common in childhood and have been estimated to occur in up to 20% of primary school children.[6][7] Chronic tic disorder (motor or vocal tic[s] present for >1 year) occurs less commonly; population-based surveys indicate that the prevalence of chronic tic disorders is 1% to 3%.[2][8] Tourette's syndrome (multiple motor tics and one or more vocal tics present for >1 year; also called Tourette's disorder) has a population-based prevalence in children of 0.3% to 0.9%; prevalence is higher in males, with a male to female ratio of 3:1, and the mean age of onset is between 6 and 7 years.[2][4][5][9] Tourette's syndrome in the US is diagnosed more commonly in non-Hispanic white young people than in Hispanic and non-Hispanic black young people.[10][11]

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