Obsessive-compulsive symptoms in childhood inflammatory bowel disease and cystic fibrosis.

The Leyton Obsessional Inventory-Child Version was administered to 33 children with Crohn's disease, 11 with ulcerative colitis, and 46 with cystic fibrosis. Subjects with ulcerative colitis scored significantly higher on total number of obsessional symptoms and degree of resistance to symptoms than subjects with Crohn's disease. Scores of subjects with cystic fibrosis were intermediate between those of the ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease groups. However, neither the ulcerative colitis group nor the Crohn's disease group differed significantly from the cystic fibrosis group that were statistically significant. Duration of illness was negatively correlated with symptoms in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The results suggest that obsessive-compulsive symptoms are not specific to Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and that obsessive-compulsive symptoms in pediatric chronic illness may be secondary to the demands of the illness.