Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Although recently number of studies about comorbidity of Bipolar Disorder (BPD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) has increased, studies about OCD comorbidity in patients diagnosed with BPD in remission period are limited. In this study, it is aimed to compare patients diagnosed with BPD during remission, Bipolar Disorder- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder comorbidity (BPD+OCD) and OCD in terms of cognitive processes.
MATERIAL AND METHOD: 34 patients diagnosed with BPD, 33 patients with BPD and OCD comorbidity, and 41 patients with OCD were included to this study . Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were used to evaluate whether the BPD patient were in remission or not. During the interview with the patients, a form with questions regarding the sociodemographic information and clinical data was filled out. Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Rating Scale (YBOCS) was administered to the patients. The patients were asked to fill out the Metacognition Questionnaire (MCQ) and the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ).
RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between the patient groups in terms of sociodemographic data. Although there was no significant difference in terms of disease severity in YBOCS between the BPD+OCD and OCD groups , in terms of symptom distribution, sexual obsessions were significantly higher in BPD+OCD group (p<0.05). In Responsibility/Threat Estimation and Perfectionism/Certainty subscales of OBQ, the scores of the patients diagnosed with only OCD were statistically significantly higher than those of the patient groups diagnosed with BPD-OCD and BPD (p = 0.001). Importance/Control of Thoughts subscale scores were significantly higher in both OCD and BPD+OCD patient groups compared to the BPD patient group (p=0.029). In MCQ, all of the subscales scores, except Cognitive Confidence, were found when OCD and BPD+OCD groups compared with BPD group (p<0.05)
CONCLUSION: When we look at the groups evaluated in our study; in terms of cognitive factors such as obsessive beliefs and metacognition, the OCD group consistently received higher scores than other groups. This is consistent with the emphasis on the cognitive aspect of OCD in the literature. Higher sexual obsessions existence in BPD+OCD group and higher Importance/Control of Thoughts subscale of OBQ scores in OCD and BPD-OCD groups supports the literature and the metacognitive theory of OCD.

Key words: Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Obsessive Beliefs, Metacognition