Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Among Patients With Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa

Thiel, Andreas
Broocks, Andreas
Ohlmeier, Martin
Jacoby, Georg E.
Schussler, Gerhard

Received Feb. 23, 1994; revision received June 3, 1994; accepted July 1, 1994. From the Department of Psychiatry, Georg-August-University of Gottingen. Address reprint requests to Dr. Thiel, Department of Psychiatry, Georg-August-University of Gottingen, von-Siebold-Str. 5, 37075 Gottingen, Germany.

American Journal of Psychiatry 152(1):p 72-75, January 1995.

Objective

The present study sought to determine the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder among patients with eating disorders. Method: Ninety-three women who met DSM-III-R criteria for anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa were investigated by using a semistructured diagnostic interview, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, and the Eating Disorder Inventory. Results: Thirty-four patients (37%) met the DSM-III-R criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder and also had a clinically significant score of 16 or higher on the Yale-Brown scale. These patients also had significantly higher, and hence pathological, mean scores on five of eight Eating Disorder Inventory scales than patients with eating disorders without concomitant obsessive-compulsive disorder. Conclusions: These results suggest that there is a high prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder among patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa and that this prevalence may be correlated with the severity of the eating disorder. (Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:72-75)