BACKGROUND: Dermatotilexomania is classified, according to DSM-IV, as an impulse control disorder not otherwise classified. Some authors have included the disorder on the obsessive-compulsive spectrum". The aim of this article is to identify the prevalence of dermatotilexomania in medical students in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. METHODS: The authors studied clinical and demographic characteristics of this population. A questionnaire was applied to 144 medical students. RESULTS: Of this total, 89 (61,8%) have already produced or deteriorated skin lesions in the past or were still doing; 12 (8,3%) answered that they injure the skin more often than usual and 1 (0,7%) considered his own dermatotilexomania as extreme. More than half of the sample (n=80, 55,6%) classified it as a bad habit. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that producing or deteriorating lesions on the skin may be a frequent practice among young people, but not necessarily defined as pathological. For most severe cases, however, the condition could be classified as a disorder: dermatotilexomania.
Dermatotilexomania; neurotic excoriation; obsessive-compulsive spectrum; medical students; epidemiology