Neurological Soft Signs and Clinical Features of Tic-Related Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Indicate a Unique Subtype

Ekinci O., Erkan Ekinci A.

Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, vol.208, no.1, pp.21-27, 2020 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 208 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.1097/nmd.0000000000001098
  • Journal Name: Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, ATLA Religion Database, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, CINAHL, Educational research abstracts (ERA), EMBASE, MEDLINE, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Violence & Abuse Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.21-27
  • Keywords: neurodevelopmental, neurological soft signs, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tic-related
  • Uşak University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Tic-related obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be a unique OCD subtype. This study examined whether neurological soft signs (NSSs) of patients with tic-related and tic-free OCD enable discrimination of these subgroups. We used the Neurological Evaluation Scale to assess 32 patients with tic-related and 94 with tic-free OCD, as well as 84 controls. Most patients with tic-related OCD were male, with earlier illness onset and poorer insight scores than those of patients with tic-free OCD. Patients with tic-related OCD had poorer motor coordination, sensory integration, and motor sequencing than did tic-free patients. Logistic regression using NSS subscale scores predicted tic-related OCD. Patients with tic-related OCD displayed greater neurodevelopmental abnormalities than did tic-free patients. NSSs of the former group suggest the need to separate this subgroup. Our results also support the newly introduced tic-related specifier in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders.