The article reports a study to estimate how common tic disorders are among schoolchildren in Warsaw, Poland, and to describe their clinical characteristics. We screened 1,579 children aged 12–15 from randomly selected schools by asking parents and teachers about tic symptoms, then interviewed those identified. Our results showed that tic disorders were quite common, with a lifetime prevalence of 9.9% and a point prevalence of 6.7%. Most cases were mild and involved simple motor tics like eye blinking or facial movements, and vocal tics such as throat clearing. We found that boys were more affected than girls, and that tic disorders formed a continuum, ranging from transient to chronic and Tourette disorder. Our screening method was highly sensitive but had a low positive predictive value, highlighting challenges in identifying tic disorders in the general population. We concluded that tic disorders are widespread but often mild and emphasized the need for better education about these conditions among the public.
This article brought together the main findings from my PhD project, which was my first major research. Working with a group of medical students, we organised and carried out a survey in schools in Warsaw. The paper was well received by other researchers and was widely cited, and its results were later included in several review studies that summarised evidence from multiple sources.