title: Do soft signs predict treatment outcome in obsessive-compulsive disorder?
abstract: The authors examined 21 outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder for five neurological soft signs and abnormalities on two neuropsychological tests before and after 10 to 12 weeks of treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Patients showed a mean of 1.8 soft signs. Prevalences were finger-to-finger, 10%; adventitious movements, 29%; mirror movements, 33%; impaired cube drawing, 33%; and agraphesthesia, 76%. The Stroop Color and Word Test was abnormal in 10% and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test was abnormal in 14% of patients. Neither the presence of specific soft signs, the number of signs present, nor a combination of signs and test abnormalities predicted a poorer response to pharmacological treatment. Some baseline soft signs and abnormalities disappeared at endpoint in medication responders and nonresponders; no clear pattern of change emerged.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University Medical Center, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thienemann
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Koran
mesh_terms: D015057:1-Naphthylamine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D016666:Fluvoxamine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011379:Prognosis; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020280:Sertraline; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D015057:1-Naphthylamine; D016666:Fluvoxamine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D020280:Sertraline