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Current Research Findings on OCD and Related Disorders
(reprinted with permission from the OCD Newsletter of the
Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation)

Addition of cognitive-behaviour therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder patients non-responding to fluoxetine. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 106:314-319, 2002, M. Kampman, G.P.J. Keijsers, C., Hoogduin, et. al.

Summary: This study examined the effects of adding CBT (cognitive-behavior therapy) to continued fluoxetine (Prozac) treatment in OCD patients who had not responded adequately to fluoxetine alone. After 12 weeks of fluoxetine 60 mg/day, 14 of 56 patients were classified as nonresponders. Nine of these 14 patients completed 12 weekly, 50-minute sessions of CBT with a therapist to guide their daily CBT homework in addition to continued fluoxetine treatment. After the inital 12 weeks of fluoxetine, nonresponders had an average symptom reduction of 8.5%. After the 12 weeks of CBT with continued fluoxetine there was an average symptom reduction of 41%. The added CBT lead to a reduction in OCD symptoms for seven of nine patients. This study supports the value of of adding CBT when patients do not improve sufficiently from an initial, adequate trial of an SSRI.

Combination of behavior therapy and pharmacotherapy is superior to pharmacotherapy alone in OCD. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 5 (Suppl 1):S132, 2002, 2002, N. Tenney, D. Denys, N. van der Wee et al.

Summary: Researchers examined the effects of adding behavior therapy (BT) to drug therapy in patients already responding to the medication. Having responded to 12 weeks of antidepressant treatment, 60 patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Twenty-five received combination drug and BT and 35 patients received the drug only. Patients receiving the combination treatment had a mean symptom reduction of 26%. The patients on the drug alone had a mean increase in symptoms of 17%. These results suggest that addition of behavior therapy to drug therapy in patients who have already benefited from drug therapy increases the treatment effect considerably.

Context in the clinic: how well do cognitive-behavioral therapies and medication work in combination? Biological Psychiatry, 52:987-997, 2002, E.B. Foa, M.E. Franklin and J. Moser.

Summary: Controlled trials comparing combined treatment with medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to medication or CBT alone in the treatment of several anxiety disorders were reviewed. This review suggests that adding medication does not hinder CBT treatment, but the addition of medication does not enhance CBT. In contrast, addition of CBT enhances medication treatment. It may be that certain groups of patients may benefit from combined treatment. For example, depressed OCD patients receiving combined treatment responded better to the combination than to behavior therapy alone. A clear advantage of combined treatment was not found, but importantly the combined treatment does not impede CBT.

Researchers Probe Possible Link Between Strep, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
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