A double-blind comparison of clomipramine and desipramine treatment of severe onychophagia (nail biting).

Full 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 cross-over 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, Nailbiting 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 information

Author/s: Leonard, H L (HL); Lenane, M C (MC); Swedo, S E (SE); Rettew, D C (DC); Rapoport, J L (JL);

Affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health, Child Psychiatry Branch, Bethesda, Md. 20892.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Comparative Study; Controlled Clinical Trial; Journal Article

Journal: Archives of general psychiatry (Arch Gen Psychiatry), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: 1991-Sep; vol 48 (issue 9) : pp 821-7

Dates: Created 1991/11/13; Completed 1991/11/13; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 1929772, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.