Comorbidity of obsessive-compulsive disorder in recovered inpatients with bipolar disorder

To determine the frequency of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in inpatient subjects with bipolar disorder (BD) and to examine the clinical characteristics of BD subjects with OCD.

The sample consisted of 143 inpatient subjects with DSM-III-R BD-I and BD-NOS (BD-II), recovered from a current episode of either depression or mania. Demographic and clinical variables were obtained on the day of admission. Current comorbid conditions including OCD were determined by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Ifollowing recovery from the acute affective episode.

The frequency of current OCD was 7% (N = 10). All BD subjects with OCD were BD-II, were male, and had a diagnosis of current dysthymia. They had fewer episodes and a higher incidence of prior suicide attempts than bipolar subjects without OCD. None of the bipolar subjects with OCD fulfilled criteria for cyclothymia.

Our findings suggest that BD-II, OCD, dysthymia, and suicidality cluster together in some subjects with BD. We discuss the clinical implications of our findings.