Dimensional Assessment of Depression and Anxiety in a Clinical Sample of Adults With Chronic Tic Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Among adults with Tourette syndrome, depression and anxiety symptoms are widely prevalent and consistently associated with poor quality of life. Important knowledge gaps remain regarding mood and anxiety dimensions of the adult Tourette syndrome phenotype. Taking a dimensional approach, this study sought to determine the prevalence, severity, and clinical correlates of depression and anxiety symptoms in a clinical sample of adults with Tourette syndrome and other chronic tic disorders. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted of all adults with a chronic tic disorder presenting to a tertiary care Tourette syndrome clinic between December 2020 and July 2022. Information extracted during chart review included data from scales administered as part of routine care: Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QoL) Depression Short Form, Neuro-QoL Anxiety Short Form, Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Screening Scale, Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, and Yale Global Tic Severity Scale. Relationships between variables were examined by conducting between-group, correlation, and multivariable regression analyses. RESULTS: Data from 120 adult patients with a chronic tic disorder (77 men and 43 women) were analyzed. Neuro-QoL Anxiety scores were elevated in 66% of the cohort; Neuro-QoL Depression scores were elevated in 26%. Neuro-QoL Anxiety scores were significantly higher than general population norms, whereas Neuro-QoL Depression scores were not. After adjustment for covariates, depressive and anxiety symptom severity scores were significantly associated with each other and with obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom severity but not with tic severity. Sex-based differences emerged in the analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Among adults with chronic tic disorder, anxiety symptoms were more prevalent and severe than depressive symptoms, co-occurring psychiatric symptoms were more tightly linked with each other than with tic severity, and sex-based differences were evident.

Healthcare Delivery and Huntington's Disease During the Time of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Safer-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic altered the structure of clinical care for Huntington's disease (HD) patients. This shift provided an opportunity to identify limitations in the current healthcare infrastructure and how these may impact the health and well-being of persons with HD. OBJECTIVE: The study objectives were to assess the feasibility of remote healthcare delivery in HD patients, to identify socioeconomic factors which may explain differences in feasibility and to evaluate the impact of safer-at-home orders on HD patient stress levels. METHODS: This observational study of a clinical HD population during the 'safer-at-home' orders asked patients or caregivers about their current access to healthcare resources and patient stress levels. A chart review allowed for an assessment of socioeconomic status and characterization of HD severity. RESULTS: Two-hundred and twelve HD patients were contacted with 156 completing the survey. During safer-at-home orders, the majority of HD patients were able to obtain medications and see a physician; however, 25% of patients would not commit to regular telehealth visits, and less than 50% utilized an online healthcare platform. We found that 37% of participants were divorced/single, 39% had less than a high school diploma, and nearly 20% were uninsured or on low-income health insurance. Patient stress levels correlated with disease burden. CONCLUSION: A significant portion of HD participants were not willing to participate in telehealth services. Potential explanations for these limitations may include socioeconomic barriers and caregiving structure. These observations illustrate areas for clinical care improvement to address healthcare disparities in the HD community.

A comparative evaluation of telehealth and direct assessment when screening for spasticity in residents of two long-term care facilities.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of telehealth as a screening tool for spasticity compared to direct patient assessment in the long-term care setting. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, observational study. SETTING: Two long-term care facilities: a 140-bed veterans' home and a 44-bed state home for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. SUBJECTS: Sixty-one adult residents of two long-term care facilities (aged 70.1 ± 16.2 years) were included in this analysis. Spasticity was identified in 43% of subjects (Modified Ashworth Scale rating mode = 2). Contributing diagnoses included traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, birth trauma, stroke, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis. MAIN MEASURES: Movement disorders neurologists conducted in-person examinations to determine whether spasticity was present (reference standard) and also evaluated subjects with spasticity using the Modified Ashworth Scale. Telehealth screening examinations, facilitated by a bedside nurse, were conducted remotely by two teleneurologists using a three-question screening tool. Telehealth screening determinations of spasticity were compared to the reference standard determination to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the curve (AUC) in receiver operating characteristics. Teleneurologist agreement was evaluated using Cohen's kappa. RESULTS: Teleneurologist 1 had a specificity of 89% and sensitivity of 65% to identify the likely presence of spasticity (n = 61; AUC = 0.770). Teleneurologist 2 showed 100% specificity and 82% sensitivity (n = 16; AUC = 0.909). There was almost perfect agreement between the two examiners at 94% (kappa = 0.875, 95% CI: 0.640-1.000). CONCLUSION: Telehealth may provide a useful, efficient method of identifying residents of long-term care facilities that likely need referral for spasticity evaluation.