Clinical comparison of Tourette's disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder

The authors report on 16 outpatients with Tourette's disorder, 16 outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and 16 normal control subjects who underwent structured interviews and psychological testing. Previous findings of a high incidence of obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients with Tourette's disorder were confirmed. There was a significantly greater incidence of tics in the patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and their relatives. Both patient groups had high rates of unipolar depressive and generalized anxiety disorders. Panic and phobic disorders were frequent in the patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder but not in the patients with Tourette's disorder. The patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder showed less coprolalia, echo phenomena, self-destructive behavior, and childhood attention deficit.