Prevalence of Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome and Associated Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Youth...

Individuals with both avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) report restrictive eating. Inflammatory and immunological alterations may drive the onset of restrictive eating and comorbid obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms in PANS, while the etiology of restrictive eating in ARFID is unknown. Nevertheless, few studies have explored PANS and related OC symptoms among individuals with ARFID. We aimed to identify the frequency and nature of PANS and OC symptoms among those with full or subthreshold ARFID. We also explored associations between OC severity, ARFID profiles, and infection history.

The study included 37 adolescents and young adults with subthreshold or full ARFID. We quantified the frequency of PANS/pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infection symptoms and diagnoses, as well as OC symptoms and severity, in our ARFID sample. We analyzed associations between ARFID profiles and OC severity, along with the relationship between infection history and OC severity.

Two individuals (5%) met PANS criteria, and 17 (46%) reported lifetime mild-severe OC severity. The fear of aversive consequences profile was associated with a significant increase in log-transformed OC severity (β = 1.2, p = 0.04, adjusted R² = 0.10) after adjusting for sensory sensitivity, lack of interest, and body mass index z-score. We did not find any associations between OC severity and infection history.

In the first study to examine PANS and related symptoms among individuals with ARFID, we demonstrated salient overlap between PANS, OC symptoms, and ARFID. Further research is needed to examine the relationship between ARFID and PANS.