Skin picking and trichotillomania in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder

• Published in: Comprehensive psychiatry Vol. 53; no. 5; pp. 562 - 568
• Main Authors: Lovato, Lucas, Ferrão, Ygor Arzeno, Stein, Dan J, Shavitt, Roseli G, Fontenelle, Leonardo F, Vivan, Analise, Miguel, Eurípedes Constantino, Cordioli, Aristides Volpato
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01-07-2012; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age Distribution; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Body Dysmorphic Disorders - epidemiology; Brazil - epidemiology; Case-Control Studies; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dermatology; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - epidemiology; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - psychology; Education; Female; Hair and nails disorders; Health care; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Neuroses; Obsessive compulsive disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - epidemiology; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - psychology; Obsessive-compulsive disorders; Prevalence; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Sex Distribution; Studies; Teenagers; Trichotillomania - epidemiology; Trichotillomania - psychology; Brazil; Human; Hair (head); Obsessive compulsive disorder; Skin disease; Impulse control disorder; Anxiety disorder; Adult; Psychopathology; Trichotillomania; Neurotic excoriation
• ISSN: 0010-440X; 1532-8384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2011.06.008

Abstract The objective of this study was to compare patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) associated with pathologic skin picking (PSP) and/or trichotillomania, and patients with OCD without such comorbidities, for demographic and clinical characteristics. We assessed 901 individuals with a primary diagnosis of OCD, using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) Axis I disorders. Diagnoses of PSP and trichotillomania were made in 16.3% and 4.9% of the sample, respectively. After the logistic regression analysis, the following factors retained an association with OCD-PSP/trichotillomania: younger (odds ratio [OR] = 0.979; P = .047), younger at the onset of compulsive symptoms (OR = 0.941; P = .007), woman (OR = 2.538; P < .001), with a higher level of education (OR = 1.055; P = .025), and with comorbid body dysmorphic disorder (OR = 2.363; P = .004). These findings support the idea that OCD accompanied by PSP/trichotillomania characterizes a specific subgroup.