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CompletedNCT00115011Updated May 20, 2008

Escitalopram for the Treatment of Self-Injurious Skin Picking

A Phase 4 interventional study of Escitalopram in Impulse Control Disorders, sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2008-05-20.

Sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of escitalopram in treating self-injurious skin picking.

Read the detailed description

Purpose: Self-injurious skin picking is a problem documented to occur in 2 % of dermatology patients (Gupta, Gupta and Haberman, 1986) , and approximately 4% of the general population (Keuthen et al., 2000). It is widely under recognized, with medical sequelae that can include scarring, infections, lesions, and potentially life-threatening outcomes (O'Sullivan et al., 1999). In a prior study, fluoxetine was shown to be superior to placebo in treating self-injurious skin picking in a modest-sized double blind trial (Simeon et al., 1997). Similarly, open-label trials of other SSRIs, including sertraline (Kalivas, Kalivas and Gilman, 1996) and fluvoxamine (Arnold et al., 1999) resulted in reductions in skin-picking behavior. Escitalopram is a new SSRI that may have superior efficacy for the treatment of major depression and fewer side effects than other SSRIs. This study aims to assess the efficacy of escitalopram in patients who suffer from self-injurious skin-picking.

Comparisons: Subjects' initial scores on the CGI, HAM-D, SPTS, SPS, SPIS, BDI, BAI, QLESQ, \& BDDQ will be compared to subjects' final scores.

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Conditions studied

  • Impulse Control Disorders

Keywords

  • Skin Picking
  • Escitalopram
  • Lexapro
  • Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors
  • Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
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In context

Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders

47 studies on the registry are indexed under Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders; 18 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 30 is below the median of 45 across 39 interventional studies indexed under Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders.

Browse Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital is the lead sponsor of 2,536 studies on the registry; 446 are open to participants now.

Of its 214 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 161 (75%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Repetitive skin picking resulting in noticeable tissue damage and associated emotional distress and/or functional impairment.
  • Age 18-65 years old.
  • Duration of skin picking symptoms ≥ 6 months.
  • MGH Skin Picking Scale score ≥ 10.
  • Written informed consent.
  • Females of childbearing potential must have a negative serum or urinary beta-HCG test and be willing to use acceptable methods of birth control during study tenure.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant women or females of childbearing potential who do not consent to use of a medically acceptable method of contraception.
  • Women who are breastfeeding.
  • Subjects who pose a serious suicidal or homicidal risk in the judgment of study investigators.
  • Serious or unstable medical illness including cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, respiratory, endocrine, neurologic, or hematologic disease.
  • Subjects with a dermatologic disorder that causes pruritis.
  • Patients on anticoagulant therapy.
  • History of seizure disorder.
  • Comorbid bipolar disorder, psychosis, organic mental disorder, borderline personality disorder or developmental disorder. Subjects with obsessive compulsive disorder (with primary symptoms other than compulsive skin picking).
  • History of substance dependence. If there is a history of substance abuse, subjects should be in remission for ≥ 6 months.
  • Current treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy for skin picking.
  • Current use of another SSRI medication.
  • Other medications for medical disorders that might interfere with escitalopram.
  • Current major depression or prescribed an antidepressant for major depression within the past 12 months.
  • More than 1 adequate trial (at least 10 weeks at maximally tolerated dose) with another prior SSRI.
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Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
30 participants (actual)

Interventions

  • DrugEscitalopram
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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. MGH Skin Picking Scale

  2. Skin Picking Impact Scale

  3. Skin Picking Treatment Scale

  4. Clinical Global Impressions scale

Secondary outcomes

  1. Hamilton Depression Rating

  2. Beck Depression Inventory

  3. Beck Anxiety Inventory

  4. Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Scale

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Study locations

1 site
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
    Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
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References and documents

Publications

  • Gupta MA, Gupta AK, Haberman HF. Neurotic excoriations: a review and some new perspectives. Compr Psychiatry. 1986 Jul-Aug;27(4):381-6. doi: 10.1016/0010-440x(86)90014-3. No abstract available. PubMed 3731771 ↗
  • Keuthen NJ, Deckersbach T, Wilhelm S, Hale E, Fraim C, Baer L, O'Sullivan RL, Jenike MA. Repetitive skin-picking in a student population and comparison with a sample of self-injurious skin-pickers. Psychosomatics. 2000 May-Jun;41(3):210-5. doi: 10.1176/appi.psy.41.3.210. PubMed 10849452 ↗
  • O'Sullivan RL, Phillips KA, Keuthen NJ, Wilhelm S. Near-fatal skin picking from delusional body dysmorphic disorder responsive to fluvoxamine. Psychosomatics. 1999 Jan-Feb;40(1):79-81. doi: 10.1016/S0033-3182(99)71276-4. No abstract available. PubMed 9989126 ↗
  • Simeon D, Stein DJ, Gross S, Islam N, Schmeidler J, Hollander E. A double-blind trial of fluoxetine in pathologic skin picking. J Clin Psychiatry. 1997 Aug;58(8):341-7. doi: 10.4088/jcp.v58n0802. PubMed 9515971 ↗
  • Kalivas J, Kalivas L, Gilman D, Hayden CT. Sertraline in the treatment of neurotic excoriations and related disorders. Arch Dermatol. 1996 May;132(5):589-90. doi: 10.1001/archderm.1996.03890290131022. No abstract available. PubMed 8624163 ↗
  • Arnold LM, Mutasim DF, Dwight MM, Lamerson CL, Morris EM, McElroy SL. An open clinical trial of fluvoxamine treatment of psychogenic excoriation. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1999 Feb;19(1):15-8. doi: 10.1097/00004714-199902000-00005. PubMed 9934938 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 20, 2008, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00115011
Lead sponsor
Massachusetts General Hospital
Collaborators
Forest Laboratories
First posted
Jun 21, 2005
Start date
Sep 2002
Completion
Nov 2005
Last update
May 20, 2008

Study contacts

Nancy J Keuthen, Ph.D.
principal investigator · Massachusetts General Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in May 2008. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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