To investigate the clinical characteristics of children with tic disorder (TD) complicated by respiratory tract infection and identify the risk factors for tic symptom aggravation, in order to provide reference and help for clinical treatment of this condition.

A total of 153 children with tic disorder complicated by respiratory tract infection, who were treated in the pediatric tic specialist clinic of the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from December 2014 to September 2024, were retrospectively selected. They were divided into two groups according to whether the tic symptoms were aggravated. The clinical characteristics between the two groups were compared, and the risk factors for tic symptom aggravation were identified by univariate analysis.

The main manifestations of respiratory tract infection in the 153 children with tic disorder were fever, cough, and expectoration. After respiratory tract infection, tic symptoms were aggravated in 94 cases (61.44%) and were not in 59 (38.56%). Head and face tic symptoms were most commonly aggravated, followed by vocal symptoms, and the symptoms of limbs and trunk were the least aggravated. Univariate analysis showed that the aggravation of tic symptoms after respiratory tract infection was related to gender, history of allergic diseases, whether there is vocal tic before infection, and whether there is Yinqiaosan in the prescription before infection. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that the model failed to identify significant independent risk factors.

Male gender, history of allergic disease, vocal tic before infection, and no use of Yinqiaosan powder in the prescription before infection are risk factors for aggravation of tic symptoms after respiratory tract infection. In seasons with a high incidence of respiratory tract infection, Yinqiaosan powder can be prophylactically used in traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions to reduce the aggravation of tic symptoms.