Neurological soft signs in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Background: Neurological soft signs (NSSs) are defined as abnormal motor or sensory findings, including involuntary movements, a variety of dispraxia, difficulties in performing rapid alternating movements, difficulties in two-point discrimination, and graphesthesia in a person without a neurological disorder which can be determined as its focus. Aims: to investigate the relationship of NSSs with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Settings and Design: This study was designed in the Psychiatry Polyclinic of Ondokuz Mayis University Hospital. After signing an informed consent form, all the subjects were divided into 2 groups: (1) the patient group and (2) the control group. Material and Methods: Thirty consecutive patients presenting with DSM-IV OCD were included in this study. The control group consisted of 30 healthy subjects without a psychiatric/neurological disorder. All subjects underwent a physical and neurological examination for soft signs (PANESS). Statistical analysis used: The Mann-Whitney U test was used for statistical analysis of data. Results: It was seen that graphesthesia, two-point discrimination, and total PANESS scores were significantly higher in the group with OCD than the control group. In other NSSs, there was no significant difference between the patient and control groups. Conclusions: Unlike some studies, in the present study, the difference between the groups in graphesthesia compared to other NSSs was significant. The results of this preliminary study suggest that there is a relationship between NSSs and OCD. We think that NSSs may point to a structural brain abnormality in patients with OCD.

Keywords
Neurological soft signs, Graphesthesia, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Structural brain abnormality.