Tardive Dyskinesia, Tardive Dystonia, and Tardive Tourette's Syndrome in Children and Adolescents

This article summarizes the current clinical literature on adverse nonparkinsonian motor side effects of neuroleptic use in children and adolescents. The research diagnoses for Tardive Dyskinesia by Schooler and Kane (1982) served as a framework for comparing the early literature to more recent studies of various forms of tardive dyskinesia. Patient demographics, medication-related variables, symptom duration, topography, and prevalence were reviewed. Neuroleptic-associated tardive dystonia and tardive Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome are also considered. Prevalence rates of tardive dyskinesia during neuroleptic treatment typically range from a mean of 1 to 4.8% (compared to about 20% in adults), and the mean rate for withdrawal tardive dyskinesia is approximately 22% (compared to 34% in adults). There are no documented cases of permanent tardive dyskinesia, but tardive dyskinesia in youth has been reported in some cases to last up to 4.5 years. Further systematic investigation is necessary to clearly identify risk factors associated with these disorders, which at present appear to be similar to risk factors for tardive dykinesia in adults.