SYMPTOMS OF OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER IN HOSPITALIZED EATING DISORDER PATIENTS - A STUDY USING THE MAUDSLEY OBSESSIONAL-COMPULSIVE INVENTORY (MOCI)

Thirty-one consecutive admissions with either anorexia or bulimia nerv osa (DSM III R) were examined by the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive I nventory (MOCI). Nutritional status was documented by Body Mass Index (BMI), eating disorder psychopathology by the Eating Attitudes Test (E AT) and the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) and depression by the Bec k Depression Inventory (Beck). MOCI scores were significantly higher t han normative values, conflicting with previous reports using the same instrument, but supporting earlier studies which had employed the Ley ton Obsessional Inventory (LOI). The MOCI score correlated with three subscales in the EDI, but none of the other measures. There were no si gnificant differences in MOCI scores between anorexia and bulimia nerv osa patients, or between patients with restricting or purging presenta tions. As the MOCI is a measure of obsessive-compulsive symtomatology, distinct both from those features of eating disorders which may resem ble obsessional symptoms and from obsessional personality traits, the findings suggest a positive association of earing disorders with obses sive-compulsive disorder (OCD).