OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the longitudinal course of symptoms in adult @entity1 with @entity3119 ( @entity3119 ), although some evidence exists regarding symptom stability in @entity1 and adolescents. This study systematically investigated the temporal stability of individual symptoms and symptom dimensions of @entity3119 in adult @entity1 who were followed prospectively for 2 years. METHOD: One hundred seventeen adult outpatients with @entity3119 from three U.S. sites were administered the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale symptom checklist four times over a period of 2 years. Eighty-one (69%), 83 (71%), and 67 (57%) @entity1 were available 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after initial screening, respectively. Different analytic methods assessed the stability of @entity3119 symptoms within and between previously identified symptom dimensions. RESULTS: For the most part, @entity1 maintained their symptoms throughout follow-up, although some symptoms were more stable than others. For the symptoms that changed, changes occurred within rather than between symptom dimensions; qualitative shifts from one dimension to another were rare. The strongest predictor of the presence of a particular symptom was having had that symptom in the past. Although most @entity1 had received pharmacological and behavioral treatment during the follow-up period, changes within symptom dimensions could not be explained by overall clinical improvement over time. CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms of adult @entity1 with @entity3119 might be more stable across time than previously thought, with some symptoms waxing and waning within symptom dimensions and rarely involving shifts between dimensions. Longer follow-up studies involving larger samples are needed to better understand the fluctuations of @entity3119 symptoms across time.

Symptom stability in adult XXXX : data from a naturalistic two-year follow-up study.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'children'] @entity3119 :: ('MESH:D009771', 'Disease') :: ['obsessive-compulsive disorder', 'OCD']
@entity3119 :: (MESH:D009771,Disease) :: ['obsessive-compulsive disorder']
