Axis I and II comorbidity in a large sample of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
BACKGROUND
No study has reported yet on the prevalence of both comorbid DSM-IV axis I and personality disorders in a large cohort of OCD patients, and little is known about differences in clinical characteristics between OCD patients with and without comorbid symptoms.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the cross-sectional prevalence of comorbid DSM-IV axis I, and personality disorders in a population of patients with primary obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).


METHODS
420 outpatients with OCD were evaluated for comorbid pathology, demographic, and clinical characteristics.


RESULTS
Forty-six percent of the patients were diagnosed with a comorbid disorder. Twenty-seven percent met the criteria for at least one comorbid axis I disorder, 15.6 percent for a comorbid personality disorder, and 20.4 percent for both a comorbid axis I disorder and a personality disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
A limitation of the current study is that the sample was drawn from a psychiatric department specialised in anxiety disorders, which might have underestimated the rate of comorbid diagnoses.


CONCLUSIONS
Comorbid diagnoses occur less frequently than would be expected on the basis of comparable comorbidity studies in OCD. Associated axis I comorbidity did not affect clinical severity of OCD, but was related to higher levels of depression and anxiety, whereas axis II comorbidity impaired to a higher extent the overall functioning.
Denys
Damiaan
D
University Medical Center (B.01.206), P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Tenney
Nienke
N
van Megen
Harold J G M
HJ
de Geus
Femke
F
Westenberg
Herman G M
HG
D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index