Eating disorders in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Prevalence and clinical correlates

Objective: The objective is to evaluate the prevalence and associated clinical characteristics of eating disorders (ED) in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Method: This is a cross-sectional study comparing 815 patients with OCD. Participants were assessed with structured interviews and scales: SCID-I, Y-BOCS, (Int J Eat Disord 2010; 43:315-325) Dimensional Y-BOCS, BABS, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Results: Ninety-two patients (11.3%) presented the following EDs: binge-eating disorders [= 59 (7.2%)], bulimia nervosa [= 16 (2.0%)], or anorexia nervosa [= 17 (2.1%)]. Compared to OCD patients without ED (OCD-Non-ED), OCD-ED patients were more likely to be women with previous psychiatric treatment. Mean total scores in Y-BOCS, Dimensional Y-BOCS, and BABS were similar within groups. However, OCD-ED patients showed higher lifetime prevalence of comorbid conditions, higher anxiety and depression scores, and higher frequency of suicide attempts than did the OCD-Non-ED group. Primarily diagnosed OCD patients with comorbid ED may be associated with higher clinical severity. Discussion: Future longitudinal studies should investigate dimensional correlations between OCD and ED. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords

Anorexia nervosa, Binge-eating disorder, Bulimia nervosa, Comorbidity, Eating disorders, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Obsessive-compulsive spectrum, anorexia nervosa, anxiety disorder, binge eating disorder, bulimia, clinical assessment, clinical feature, comorbidity, controlled study, depression, disease association, disease severity, female, human, major clinical study, male, obsessive compulsive disorder, onset age, prevalence, priority journal, psychiatric treatment, suicide attempt, Adult, Anorexia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, Body Mass Index, Brazil, Bulimia Nervosa, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Personality Inventory, Psychometrics