Prevalence and clinical characteristics of body dysmorphic disorder in an adult inpatient setting

Conroy, Michelle; Menard, William; Fleming-Ives, Kathryn; Modha, Poonam; Cerullo, Hilary; Phillips, Katharine A.

doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2007.09.004

« Previous Next »General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 30, Issue 1 , Pages 67-72, January 2008

Prevalence and clinical characteristics of body dysmorphic disorder in an adult inpatient setting☆

Michelle Conroy, M.D.
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, USA
William Menard, B.A.
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Body Image Program, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI 02906, USA
Kathryn Fleming-Ives, M.D.
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, USA
Poonam Modha, M.D.
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, USA
Hilary Cerullo, D.O.
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, USA
Katharine A. Phillips, M.D.
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, USA
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Body Image Program, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI 02906, USA
- Corresponding author. Butler Hospital, Providence, RI 02906, USA. Tel.: +1 401 455 6490; fax: +1 401 455 6539.

Received 18 May 2007; accepted 18 September 2007.

Abstract

Objective

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a distressing or impairing preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in appearance, is an often-severe, understudied disorder. We determined BDD's prevalence and clinical features on a general adult psychiatric inpatient unit. To our knowledge, only one previous prevalence study has been done in this setting.

Method

One hundred patients completed 3 self-report measures: the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire (BDD-Q), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Those who screened positive for BDD were interviewed to confirm DSM-IV BDD and its clinical features. Charts were reviewed for demographic and clinical information.

Results

BDD was diagnosed in 16.0% (95% CI=8.7–23.3%) (n=16) of patients. A high proportion of those with BDD reported that BDD symptoms contributed to suicidality. Patients revealed BDD symptoms to a mean of only 15.1%±33.7% lifetime mental health clinicians; only one (6.3%) reported symptoms to his current inpatient psychiatrist. Most did not disclose their symptoms due to embarrassment. Those with BDD were younger (P=.008) and had higher CES-D scores (P=.008). The two groups did not significantly differ on BAI score, demographic characteristics or discharge diagnoses.