ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Psichiatrica 2009 December;50(4):301-8

Copyright © 2010 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Disturbo ossessivo-compulsivo con concomitanti disturbi da uso di sostanze: uno studio clinico

Maina G., Pessina E., D’ambrosio V., Bertetto N., Asinari G. F., Albert U., Bogetto F.

Servizio per i Disturbi Depressivi e D’Ansia, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italia

Aim. The aim of this study was to evaluate lifetime prevalence of substance use disorders (SUDs) in a sample of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), to explore the clinical impact of SUDs comorbidity on OCD characteristics, with particular attention to axis I comorbidity.
Methods. Subjects were recruited from all patients with a principal diagnosis of OCD, consecutively referred to the Anxiety and Mood Disorders Unit, Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Italy, over a period of eight years (January 2000-December 2008). All socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were obtained through the administration of both a semistructured interview and the following scales: Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Scale. Diagnostic evaluation and Axis I comorbidity were recorded using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-Iv Axis I Disorders.
Results. A total of 216 patients were enrolled in the study and 21 (9.7%) of them met criteria for a lifetime SUD. OCD plus SUDs patients reported significantly higher rates of ordering compulsion (52.4% vs. 26.2%, P=0.020). Furthermore, OCD plus SUDs patients showed higher rates of both panic disorder (23.8% vs. 7,4%, P=0.025) and any bipolar disorder (23.8% vs. 7.7%, P=0.031).
Conclusion. Findings of this study confirm literature data, indicating that SUDs have a clinically significant influence on specific OCD patients profile, with higher rates of bipolar comorbidity in OCD plus SUDs patients. To confirm these results future prospective studies are needed.