A long-term, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial of the efficacy of fluoxetine for trichotillomania

OBJECTIVE: The authors' objective was to determine the efficacy of fluoxetine at high doses for the treatment of trichotillomania in a long-term, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. METHOD: Twenty-three adult chronic hair pullers agreed to take part in the trial, taking fluoxetine doses of up to 80 mg/day. The 31-week trial consisted of a 2-week washout phase, a first treatment phase of 12 weeks, a 5-week washout phase, and a crossover second treatment phase of 12 weeks. Sixteen patients (14 women and two men) completed the trial. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between fluoxetine and placebo treatments for the measures of weekly severity of hair pulling, weekly severity of urge to pull, daily hair counts (or estimated hair pulled), or days of hair pulling. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of fluoxetine in the treatment of trichotillomania was not demonstrated in this study.