OBJECTIVE:

This study investigated the comorbidity of obsessive compulsive disorder and obsessive compulsive personality disorder with the dieting disorders. A comorbid sample was examined in order to test the hypothesis that obsessive compulsive symptoms and personality are premorbid in these patients.

METHOD:

Sixty-eight inpatients (35 with anorexia nervosa and 33 with bulimia nervosa) were assessed for DSM-III-R Axis 1 and Axis 11 obsessive compulsive psychopathology using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and the Personality Disorders Inventory (PDE), respectively.

RESULTS:

Twenty-one percent of the group met criteria for a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder. Thirty-seven percent of anorexia nervosa patients were comorbid for obsessive compulsive disorder compared to only 3% of bulimia nervosa patients. In most, the obsessive compulsive disorder had predated the dieting disorder. Nineteen percent of patients were found to have premorbid obsessive compulsive personality disorder.

DISCUSSION:

This study supports the assumption of obsessive compulsive comorbidity within the dieting disorders and provides empirical support that this obsessionality is a premorbid characteristic.