Clinical improvement following vitamin D3 supplementation in children with chronic tic disorders

Figures & data

Table 1 Patient demographic data

Characteristics	CTDs	Controls	t/χ^2 (Z)	p
Number of participants	120	140
Sex			0.83	0.36
Male	102 (85%)	113 (81%)
Female	18 (15%)	27 (19%)
Age. y	9 (8–11)	9 (7–10)	(–1.42)	0.16
BMI			0.56	0.76
<85th	87 (72%)	102 (73%)
85–95th	26 (22%)	27 (19%)
>95th	7 (6%)	11 (8%)
Season of blood collection			0.39	0.53
Winter	98 (82%)	110 (79%)
Summer	22 (18%)	30 (21%)
25 (OH)D, (ng/mL)	19±7^a	29±7	10.5	<0.001
During winter	19±8^a	28±7	9.37	<0.001
During summer	21±6^a	30±8	4.68	<0.001
Vitamin D status			49.3	<0.001
Optimal	8 (7%)^a	62 (44%)
Insufficient	98 (81%)^a	74 (53%)
Deficient	14 (12%)^a	4 (3%)

Notes: ^ap<0.05 vs controls. Data represent the percentages of, mean ± SD, or medians (P25–P75). Independent t test, χ² test, and Mann–Whitney test were employed for comparing control children to those with CTDs.

Abbreviations: CTDs, Chronic tic disorders (referred as case group); Controls, normal healthy controls.

Figure 1 Correlation of 25(OH)D levels with YGTSS scores. Associations between 25(OH)D levels and YGTSS scores in the whole CTDs group (n=120) at baseline were analyzed via Pearson’s correlation test. (A) Total YGTSS score correlation with 25(OH)D levels. (B) Total YGTSS tic score correlation with 25(OH)D.

Abbreviations: 25(OH)D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D; YGTSS, Yale Global Tic Severity Scale; CTDs, chronic tic disorders.

Table 2 Follow-up treatment in children with CTDs and vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency

	Vitamin D deficiency(<10 ng/mL)	Vitamin D insufficiency(10–30 ng/mL)	Total number
Be advised to receive vitamin D3 supplementation	11	49	60
Taking vitamin D3 supplementation	11	43	54
Loss of contact or unable to conduct evaluations	4	14	18
Finished vitamin D3 supplementation	7	29	36

Table 3 Rating scores and 25(OH)D levels in children that have CTDs before and after vitamin D3 supplementation

Variable	Baseline	After 3 months	t (Z)	p
YGTSS total scores	41±11	26±13^a	9.68	<0.001
Total tics scores	23±5	13±7^a	10.15	<0.001
Motor tics	16 (13–18)	10 (7–12)^a	(−5.0)	<0.001
Phonic tics	8 (5–10)	5 (2–7)^a	(−4.44)	<0.001
Impairment	20 (10–20)	10 (10–20)^a	(−3.83)	<0.001
CGI-SI scores	4 (4–5)	3 (2–4)^a	(−3.79)	<0.001
CGI-SI (%)			(−3.38)	0.001
1–2 scores	1 (3%)	9 (25%)^a
3–4 scores	23 (64%)	24 (67%)
5–6 scores	12 (33%)	3 (8%)^a
25(OH)D(ng/mL)	21(15–23)	51(43–58)^a	(−5.23)	<0.001

Note: Data are means ± SD or medians (P25–P75), percentage of children. Paired t-tests, Wilcoxon tests, and Mann–Whitney tests were used to compare before and after therapy in children with CTDs. ^aSignificantly different from the baseline (p<0.05).

Abbreviations: 25(OH)D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D; CTDs, chronic tic disorders; YGTSS, Yale Global Tic Severity Scale.