Minor Physical Anomalies and Neurological Soft Signs Mark Poor Insight in Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

Objective: Poor insight in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been proposed to reflect a more neurodevelopmentally rooted subtype.We examined whether minor physical anomalies (MPAs) and neurological soft signs (NSS), two peripheral markers of aberrant neurodevelopment, distinguish OCD patients according to insight.Methods: Sixty-seven adults with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition OCD were assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS), the Schedule for the Assessment of Insight, the Waldrop MPA scale and the Neurological Evaluation Scale.Patients were classified as having good (BABS ≤ 12; n = 37) or poor (BABS ≥ 13; n = 30) insight.Firth penalized logistic regression identified independent predictors.Results: The groups were comparable in age, sex, marital status, employment and comorbidity, whereas poor insight was associated with lower education, past suicidal behaviour and greater symptom severity.Total, craniofacial and peripheral MPA scores were higher in the poor-insight group, with an excess of ocular, auricular and oral anomalies.Low-set ears, epicanthus and high-arched palate were the most discriminating.Total NSS and all subdomains except complex motor sequencing were approximately doubled, with large effects for sensory integration and motor coordination.MPA burden predicted poor insight independently of symptom severity, while NSS was the dominant predictor when severity was excluded (apparent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.97; optimism-corrected 0.95).Conclusion: These convergent findings suggest a neurodevelopmental pattern in poor-insight OCD.Given the cross-sectional design, modest sample and absence of a control group, they should be regarded as hypothesis-generating.