Belli GM, Law C, Obisie-Orlu IC, Eisen JL, Rasmussen SA, Boisseau CL. Course and clinical correlates of obsessive-compulsive disorder with or without comorbid personality disorder.
J Affect Disord 2024;
348:218-223. [PMID:
38145841 PMCID:
PMC10939496 DOI:
10.1016/j.jad.2023.12.041]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Personality disorders (PDs) are often comorbid with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) which may influence symptom presentation and course. This investigation sought to examine the impact of comorbid PDs on clinical presentation and symptom chronicity in a large, prospective longitudinal OCD study.
METHODS
Participants (n = 263) were treatment-seeking adults with a primary diagnosis of OCD separated into two groups: individuals with and without a co-occurring PD. We conducted two-tailed t-tests to compare symptom severity, functioning, and quality of life between the OCD + PD group (n = 117) and the OCD w/o PD group (n = 146). Chronicity analyses were conducted to compare the amount of time in-episode for OCD and major depressive disorder (MDD) between the two groups.
RESULTS
The OCD + PD group reported greater OCD and depression severity, lower levels of psychosocial functioning and worse quality of life than the OCD w/o PD group. The OCD + PD group exhibited greater OCD and MDD symptom chronicity; over 5 years the OCD + PD group spent 16.2 % weeks longer at full criteria for OCD and three times as many weeks in episode for MDD than the OCD w/o PD group.
LIMITATIONS
Focusing on PDs as a group limited our ability to make observations about specific PDs. Further, the participants in our sample were predominantly White and all were treatment seeking which limits the generalizability of our findings.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that those with OCD and comorbid PDs present with greater overall impairment and may require additional considerations during treatment conceptualization and planning.
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