Efficacy of differential reinforcement of other behaviors therapy for tic disorder: a meta-analysis.
BMC Neurol
; 24(1): 3, 2024 Jan 02.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38166709
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Recently, studies on behavioral tic suppression techniques have gained popularity as opposed to pharmacological alternatives that often have potentially dangerous side effects. Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors therapy (DRO) is one such behavioral technique whose efficacy in tic suppression has been experimentally demonstrated albeit in studies with very few patients, and lacking statistical power. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of these studies to improve their overall power and explore whether DRO intervention is really effective for tic suppression. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to August 30, 2023. Only original interventional studies that examined the efficacy of DRO for tic suppression were included.RESULTS:
A total of 8 no control interventional studies involving 79 children with tic disorders were recruited. Most of the children had moderate tic severity. The pooled mean Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) score was 24.64 (95% CI 21.99 - 30.12, p = < 0.00001, I2 = 87%). In terms of efficacy of the DRO technique for tic suppression, the results showed that DRO was effective in reducing tic frequency among the children. The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) was -10.25 (95% CI -14.71 - -5.79, p = < 0.00001) with I2 = 94%.CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, this study revealed that DRO is potentially an effective tic suppression technique for temporarily managing tic disorder. It also showed that DRO could be employed for both moderate and severe tic disorders. However, the technique bears crucial limitations that limit its implementation outside of experimental settings. More studies are needed to address these limitations and improve its applicability in the real world.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tic Disorders
/
Tics
Type of study:
Systematic_reviews
Limits:
Child
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
BMC Neurol
Journal subject:
NEUROLOGIA
Year:
2024
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China