Obsessive‐compulsive and eating disorders: Comparison of clinical and personality features

The aim of the present study was to determine whether anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) share clinical and psychopathological traits. The sample consisted of 90 female patients (30 OCD; 30 AN; 30 BN), who had been consecutively referred to the Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge, Barcelona. All subjects met DSM‐IV criteria for those pathologies. The assessment consisted of the Maudsley Obsessive‐Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), Questionnaire of obsessive traits and personality by Vallejo, Eating Attitudes Test‐40 (EAT‐40), Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). ancova tests (adjusted for age and body mass index) and multiple linear regression models based on obsessive‐compulsiveness, obsessive personality traits and perfectionism, as independent variables, were applied to determine the best predictors of eating disorder severity. On ancova several significant differences were found between obsessive‐compulsive and eating‐disordered patients (MOCI, P