Psychological morbidity and caregiver burden in parents of children with Tourette's disorder and psychiatric comorbidity.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the mental health and caregiver burden in parents of children with Tourette's disorder (TD) compared with parents of children with asthma.

METHOD: A cross-sectional cohort survey was conducted at TD and pediatric asthma hospital outpatient clinics over a 6-month period. Main outcome measures were parent mental health (General Health Questionnaire [GHQ]-28) and caregiver burden (Child and Adolescent Impact Assessment) scores.

RESULTS

The response rate achieved was 89.7%. Of the parents of children with TD, 76.9% achieved caseness on the GHQ-28 compared with 34.6% of the parents of children with asthma; this effect remained significant after controlling for demographic variables. Parents of children with TD also experienced greater caregiver burden, and this burden was significantly correlated with GHQ caseness.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents of children with TD are at risk of psychiatric morbidity; an intervention targeting caregiver burden might be helpful in reducing this.