{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T11:04:04Z","timestamp":1763377444303,"version":"3.45.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,15]],"date-time":"2025-11-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763164800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Onychophagia, commonly known as nail-biting, is a chronic and repetitive behaviour disorder characterised by a compulsive\/habitual nature. Obsessive\u2013compulsive disorder (OCD) and onychophagia present a noteworthy intersection in clinical psychiatry. With a paucity of clinical investigations on this topic, we decided to perform a study on onychophagia in OCD. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional investigation, the sample comprised patients (aged 18 years and older) having a primary diagnosis of OCD (DSM-5) and a score on the Yale\u2013Brown Obsessive\u2013Compulsive Scale of at least 16 (moderate OCD). Individuals were referred to the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Turin. Analysis of the data was performed using JASP (Version 0.16.3), a freely available statistical programme created by the University of Amsterdam (JASP Team, 2022). Statistical value was set at p &lt; 0.05. Results: Our sample consisted of 603 individuals with OCD, and onychophagia was present in 52 of the cases, with a prevalence of 8.6% (95% CI: 6.5\u201311.2%). Individuals with OCD and onychophagia had some specific clinical features compared to patients with only OCD. The main difference was detected in terms of the presence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD): in the group of patients having OCD and onychophagia, a prevalence of ASD as high as 96.2% was identified, compared to 18.0% in the OCD-without-onychophagia group. Discussion: Onychophagia is a relatively common problem in patients with OCD, with almost one individual out of ten experiencing this issue. OCD and onychophagia, when both present, might define a peculiar clinical phenotype with specific characteristics. The extremely high frequency of ASD in patients with OCD and onychophagia (96.2%) might be very useful information for clinicians, who should pay particular attention to screening for autism in this cohort of individuals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci15111228","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,17]],"date-time":"2025-11-17T10:24:58Z","timestamp":1763375098000},"page":"1228","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Onychophagia in Obsessive\u2013Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Prevalence and Clinical Characterisation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2855-2865","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Pellegrini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, UCO Clinica Psichiatrica, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Mental Health, Psychiatric Clinic, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Giuliano-Isontina\u2014ASUGI, 34149 Trieste, Italy"},{"name":"School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK"},{"name":"Centre for Psychedelic Research and Neuropsychopharmacology, Imperial College London, London NW1 5QH, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gabriele","family":"Di Salvo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences \u201cRita Levi Montalcini\u201d, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy"},{"name":"Psychiatric Unit, San Luigi Gonzaga University Hospital, Orbassano, 10043 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2308-9146","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gianluca","family":"Rosso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences \u201cRita Levi Montalcini\u201d, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy"},{"name":"Psychiatric Unit, San Luigi Gonzaga University Hospital, Orbassano, 10043 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2533-140X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Maina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences \u201cRita Levi Montalcini\u201d, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy"},{"name":"Psychiatric Unit, San Luigi Gonzaga University Hospital, Orbassano, 10043 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9781-4219","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Umberto","family":"Albert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, UCO Clinica Psichiatrica, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Mental Health, Psychiatric Clinic, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Giuliano-Isontina\u2014ASUGI, 34149 Trieste, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1111\/pde.14888","article-title":"Review of the Diagnosis and Management of Pediatric Psychodermatologic Conditions: Part I","volume":"39","author":"Mosca","year":"2022","journal-title":"Pediatr. 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