Sleep Sufficiency in Pediatric and Adolescent Tourette's Disorder: National Survey of Children's Health

Objective: The present study compared sleep sufficiency in youth with current Tourette's disorder (TD), history of TD and matched case controls, and examined predictors of sufficient sleep using a large US population-based survey. Method: Participants were 673 caregivers of youth aged 6 to 17 years (298 with current TD, 122 with a history of TD with no endorsement of current diagnosis, and 254 matched case controls) from the 2007 and 2011-2012 versions of the National Survey of Children's Health. History and current TD status, current comorbidity (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and depression) and psychiatric medication status were assessed by yes/no items. Current TD severity was dichotomized into mild or moderate/severe symptoms. Sleep was assessed by parent-reported number of sufficient nights their child slept in the past week. Results: Univariate analysis of variance yielded significant group differences in nights of sufficient sleep (F[2,369.70] = 71.53, p < .001), with controls having 1.5 more nights per week relative to both TD groups (p < .001). With respect to predictors of sufficient sleep, the analysis of covariance yielded a significant age x sex x TD severity interaction (F[1,15.84] = 4.28, p = .04) such that older adolescent males with mild TD had significantly fewer nights of sufficient sleep than children (p = .004) and early adolescents (p = .002; F[2,54.93] = 7.45, p = .001). Early adolescent females with moderate/severe TD had fewer nights of sufficient sleep relative to males (p = .008). Comorbidity type and psychiatric medication status did not significantly predict sleep. Conclusion: Findings suggest that insufficient sleep in youth with TD persists independently of comorbidity or psychiatric medication status. Findings highlight the importance of clinical sleep monitoring in this population.