Mental or Behavioral Dysfunction
pica
pi·ca
Subclass of:
Signs and Symptoms, Digestive;
Feeding and Eating Disorders
Definitions related to pica disease:
-
(pica) An appetite for and the persistent ingestion of non-food substances such as clay. In order to diagnose pica, this behavior must have persisted over a period of at least one month.Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO)The Human Phenotype Ontology Project, 2021
-
(pica) Desire for and/or consumption of non-food products.NICHD Pediatric TerminologyU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
-
(pica) The persistent eating of non-nutritive substances for a period of at least one month.NLM Medical Subject HeadingsU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
-
(pica eating disorder) An eating disorder characterized by the persistent eating of nonnutritive substances such as clay or soil; this behavior must be inappropriate to the level of the individual's development.NCI ThesaurusU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
-
Pica is persistent eating of nonnutritive, nonfood material for ?1 month when it is developmentally inappropriate (eg, pica is not diagnosed in children < 2 years) and when it is not part of a cultural tradition (eg, of folk medicine, religious rites, or common practice, such as ingestion of clay [kaolin] in the Georgia Piedmont).Merck & Co., Inc., 2020
Return to OpenMD Medical Dictionary
> P
This content should not be used in place of medically-reviewed decision support reference material or professional medical advice. Some terms may have alternate or updated definitions not reflected in this set. The definitions on this page should not be considered complete or up to date.