This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Henrietta L. Leonard, MD; Marge C. Lenane, MSW; Susan E. Swedo, MD; David C. Rettew; Judith L. Rapoport, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1991;48(9):821-827.

Abstract
• Twenty-five adult subjects with severe morbid onychophagia (nail biting) and no history of obsessive-compulsive disorder were enrolled in a 10-week double-blind crossover trial of clomipramine hydrochloride and desipramine hydrochloride. For the 14 subjects who completed the study, clomipramine hydrochloride (mean±SD dose, 120±48 mg/d) was superior to desipramine hydrochloride (mean± SD dose, 135±53 mg/d) in decreasing nail biting as measured by a repeated-measures analysis of variance on the Nail Biting Severity, Naiibiting Impairment, and Clinical Progress scales. The high dropout rate at every stage of the study was in sharp contrast to that seen with psychiatric populations. From a neuroethologic perspective, similar biologic systems are hypothesized to mediate a spectrum of grooming behaviors, including onychophagia, trichotillomania, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Author Affiliations
From the National Institute of Mental Health, Child Psychiatry Branch, Bethesda, Md.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication January 11, 1991.

Reprint requests to Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bldg 10, Room 6N240, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 (Dr Leonard).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Tourette Syndrome
Goodman et al.
J Child Neurol 2006;21:704-714.
ABSTRACT  

Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior Problems: Prevalence in A Nonreferred Population and Differences in Perceived Somatic Activity
Teng et al.
Behav Modif 2002;26:340-360.
ABSTRACT  

A Double-blind Comparison of Clomipramine, Desipramine, and Placebo in the Treatment of Autistic Disorder
Gordon et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1993;50:441-447.
ABSTRACT  

Psychiatry
Freedman and Stahl
JAMA 1992;268:403-405.
ABSTRACT  

Regional Cerebral Glucose Metabolism of Women With Trichotillomania
Swedo et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1991;48:828-833.
ABSTRACT