GROWTH DIFFERENCES ASSOCIATED WITH COMPULSIVE AND STEREOTYPED BEHAVIOR DISORDERS IN ADULTS WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION

We have recently observed that compulsive behaviors in mentally retard ed patients appear to be quite prevalent, can be reliably assessed, an d have a high rate of co-occurrence with stereotyped and self-injuriou s behaviors in this population. As abnormal growth rate has been obser ved in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, we examined physi cal stature in adults with mental retardation who display repetitive m ovement disorders. Identification of cases with stereotypic movement d isorder, and cases with compulsive behaviors was done using a symptom checklist and direct observation. Subjects with repetitive movement di sorders were smaller in stature than control subjects, with gender dif ferences observed across repetitive behavior disorders. Specifically, female subjects with compulsive behavior disorder, but not stereotypic movement disorder, were significantly shorter and weighted significan tly less than same sex-matched controls. Conversely, male subjects wit h stereotypic movement disorder, but not compulsive disorder, were sig nificantly shorter and weighed significantly less than same sex contro ls. These findings may point to a neuroendocrine abnormality associate d with repetitive movement disorders. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.