SynthesisCurrent neuropharmacology2019
Drug Treatment of Trichotillomania (Hair-Pulling Disorder), Excoriation (Skin-picking) Disorder, and Nail-biting (Onychophagia).
Synthesis in Current neuropharmacology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- BASNEF behavioral transformation: effect of empowerment program on children's knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and practice of nail biting.BMC pediatrics · 2025Trial
- Pharmacological Interventions for Excoriation Behaviors in Alzheimer's Disease: An Empty Systematic Review of Clinical Trials.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2025Review
- Onychophagia in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Prevalence and Clinical Characterisation.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Exploring skin picking disorder: aetiology, treatment, and future directions.Postepy dermatologii i alergologii · 2024Review
- Article
- Low-Dose Naltrexone for Excoriation Disorder.Cureus · 2024Article
- Gastric Outlet Obstruction and Iron Deficiency Anemia Secondary to Gastric Bezoar: A Case Report.Cureus · 2023Article
- Neurobiology and Applications of Inositol in Psychiatry: A Narrative Review.Current issues in molecular biology · 2023Review
- Body Focused Repetitive Behavior Disorders: Behavioral Models and Neurobiological Mechanisms.Turk psikiyatri dergisi = Turkish journal of psychiatry · 2023Review
- Compatibility and stability of methylprednisolone sodium succinate and granisetron hydrochloride in 0.9% sodium chloride solution.Medicine · 2022Article
- The Potential ofInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Reward processing in trichotillomania and skin picking disorder.Brain imaging and behavior · 2022Article
- Identifying subtypes of trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder) and excoriation (skin picking) disorder using mixture modeling in a multicenter sample.Journal of psychiatric research · 2021Article
- Revisiting repetitive behaviors: A case series on compulsive sexual behavior disorder, trichotillomania, non-suicidal self-injury, and binge eating disorder.Industrial psychiatry journalArticle
- Pubic Trichotillomania in a Beauty Pageant Contestant.International journal of trichologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTrichotillomania (TTM), excoriation (or skin-picking) disorder and some severe forms of onychophagia are classified under obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. There are different interacting neurotransmitter systems involved in the pathophysiology of impulse-control disorders, implicating noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine, opioid peptides and glutamate, hence investigators focused on drugs able to act on these transmitters. Our aim was to critically review the efficacy of the drugs employed in impulse-control disorders.
methodsWe searched for controlled drug trials to treat TTM, excoriation, and/or nail-biting six databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO/PsycARTICLES, and Web of Science), using the search strategy: (trichotillomania OR "excoriation disorder" OR "face picking" OR "skin picking" OR "hair pulling" OR onychophagia OR "nail-biting") AND drug treatment on 12 March 2018 for all databases. We followed in our method of identifying relevant literature the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement.
resultsSSRIs and clomipramine are considered first-line in TTM. In addition, family members of TTM patients are often affected by obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. Other drugs used in the treatment of TTM are lamotrigine, olanzapine, N-Acetylcysteine, inositol, and naltrexone.
conclusionThe treatment of TTM, excoriation disorder and nail-biting is still rather disappointing. Conjectures made from preclinical studies and the relative pathophysiological hypotheses found poor confirmations at a clinical level. There is a need for further studies and the integration of pharmacological and psychotherapeutic. Our results point to the need of integrating personalised medicine principles in the treatment of these patients.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.