Pattern of occurrence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in bipolar disorder

Matteo Tonna; Margherita Trinchieri; Valeria Lucarini; Martina Ferrari; Massimo Ballerini; Paolo Ossola; Chiara De Panfilis; Carlo Marchesi

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113715

Pattern of occurrence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in bipolar disorder

Psychiatry Res. 2021 Mar:297:113715. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113715. Epub 2021 Jan 22.

Authors

Matteo Tonna¹, Margherita Trinchieri², Valeria Lucarini³, Martina Ferrari⁴, Massimo Ballerini⁵, Paolo Ossola⁶, Chiara De Panfilis⁷, Carlo Marchesi⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: mtonna@ausl.pr.it.
² Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: margherita.trinchieri11@gmail.com.
³ Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: vlucarini@ausl.pr.it.
⁴ Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: martina.ferrari2014@gmail.com.
⁵ Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Florence, Italy. Electronic address: baller@virgilio.it.
⁶ Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: paolo.ossola@unipr.it.
⁷ Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: chiara.depanfilis@unipr.it.
⁸ Department of Mental Health, Local Health Service, Parma, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatric Unit, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. Electronic address: carlo.marchesi@unipr.it.

PMID: 33535087
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113715

Abstract

Apparent comorbidity between Bipolar Disorder (BD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common condition, but its meaning has not been clarified yet. The present study aimed to evaluate the pattern of occurrence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) in the different phases of BD. One hundred and sixty-five BD patients, 62 (37.5%) euthymic, 34 (20.6%) in hypomanic/manic phase, 43 (26%) in depressive phase and 26 (15.7%) in mixed state, were assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS). In the whole sample, the severity of OCS was associated to the severity of depressive symptoms. The highest severity of OCS (YBOCS total score) was observed in the mixed group and the lowest scores in the hypomanic/manic group. Our findings suggest that OCS in BD patients appear as a state-dependent phenomenon cycling with the mood phases, particularly exacerbating in the context of depressive and mixed states.

Keywords: Bipolar disorder; Comorbidity; Mixed states; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Treatment.

MeSH terms

Adult
Bipolar Disorder* / diagnosis
Bipolar Disorder* / epidemiology
Bipolar Disorder* / physiopathology
Comorbidity
Depression* / diagnosis
Depression* / epidemiology
Depression* / physiopathology
Disease Progression*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder* / diagnosis
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder* / epidemiology
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder* / physiopathology
Severity of Illness Index