Clinical and subclinical body dysmorphic disorder.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the study was to define the main demographic and clinical characteristics of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and subclinical BDD (sBDD) in a sample derived by a screening survey done on a population of individuals referring to aesthetical medicine centers.


METHODS
487 subjects referring to hospital centers for aesthetical medicine were administered the SCID-I and the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale adapted for BDD (BDD-YBOCS). The sample was thus sub-divided in three sub-samples: 1) BDD, 2) sub-clinical BDD, and 3) controls. The main demographic and clinical variables were considered and compared between the BDD and the sBDD samples.


RESULTS
As previously reported, the prevalence of BDD and sBDD was 6.3% and 18.4%, respectively. The most frequent comorbid diagnosis in both BDD and sBDD patients and their relatives was Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). A higher severity of symptoms was found in male BDD patients, while no gender-related differences were found in the sBDD group. Suicidal ideation was found in 12.1% of the sBDD and in 49.7% of the BDD patients.


CONCLUSIONS
These results support the hypothesis of BDD and sBDD belonging to the OCD spectrum, and appear to advise long-term follow-up studies on the course and the prognosis of sBDD.
Altamura
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Psychiatry, University of Milan, Italy. altamura@ospedalesacco.lom.it
Paluello
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Mundo
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Medda
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Mannu
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005190:Family; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013518:Surgery, Plastic