Skin picking disorder in 97 Italian and Spanish Cri du chat patients.

Abstract

Skin picking (SP) disorder is characterized by recurrent SP resulting in skin lesions. Several studies estimated its prevalence as approximately 2-4 % of the general population. It is also present in a high percentage of patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as Cri du chat (CdC) syndrome, a rare genetic disorder caused by variable size deletions of the short arm of chromosome 5. The aim of this study was to evaluate, in 97 patients with CdC syndrome, the following data: frequency of SP, patient's age at onset, type, and topographic-anatomic distribution of the lesions presented. The results show that 85% of patients confirm a SP disorder, usually concentrated on the hands, fingers, and the face, with onset between 6 and 10 years of age, regardless of patient's sex. Evidence for early appearance of SP behavior, high prevalence in stressful circumstances, and efficacy of distracting actions immediately suggest the possibility that proper parental information about SP behavior and parental education concerning the methods to deal with this problem may result in its efficient reduction already in childhood.