Obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms before and after recovery from bulimia nervosa

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms are common in peopl e who are ill with bulimia nervosa, However, little is known about whether OCD symptoms persist after long-term recovery from bulimia. Method: Thirty- one female patients with bulimia nervosa, 29 women who had been recovered f rom bulimia for more than 1 year, and 19 healthy female comparison subjects completed the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, which measures OCD-li ke symptoms. Items related to symptoms of core eating disorders were omitte d from the Yale-Brown scale. Results: The Yale-Brown scale scores of the wo men with bulimia (mean=13.1, SD=10.6) and those who had recovered from buli mia (mean=7.9, SD=7.0) were significantly higher than the scores of the nor mal comparison subjects (mean=1.9, SD=2.6). Women with bulimia and those wh o had recovered from bulimia had similar Yale-Brown scale scores and endors ed similar Yale-Brown scale target symptoms, such as obsessions related to symmetry and exactness. Conclusions: OCD symptoms persist after recovery fr om bulimia. Moreover, the types of OCD symptoms experienced by bulimia pati ents do not vary dramatically with improvement in bulimic symptoms. Persist ent OCD symptoms after recovery from bulimia raise the possibility that the se behaviors are trait-related and contribute to the pathogenesis of bulimi a.