A Prevalence Study of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome in North Dakota School-Age Children

Abstract

The prevalence rate of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome has been estimated to be between 1 and 5 in 10,000 in the general population of the United States. To the authors' knowledge, no recent prevalence study has been conducted on a normal, school-aged population that can be geographically and demographically defined. The prevalence rate of Tourette syndrome, using DSM-III criteria, in North Dakota's school-age children is conservatively estimated at 1.0 per 10,000 for girls and 9.3 per 10,000 for boys, with a combined prevalence of 5.2 cases per 10,000 school-age children. The male to female ratio is estimated to be 9.3 to 1.