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| Author(s): |
Hermano Tavares
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Medicina (FM/SBD) |
| Defense date: | 2000-11-28 |
| Examining board members: |
Valentim Gentil Filho;
Paulo Dalgalarrondo;
Euripedes Constantino Miguel Filho;
José Alberto Del Porto;
Zacaria Borge Ali Ramadam
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| Advisor: | Valentim Gentil Filho |
| Abstract | |
Pathological Gambling (PG) is a psychiatric disorder in which personality features are considered essential for its development. In addition, it has been associated to Substance Dependence and a relationship to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) has been proposed. Some authors conceptualize it as a non-chemical dependence; others refuse this concept, arguing that the term dependence should be used exclusively to the misuse of psychoactive substances, and that PG would be closer to anxiety and affective disorders. PG has been classified as a compulsive behavior, as a dependence, and presently it is classified among the Impulse Control Disorders Not Elsewhere Classified in the DSM-IV, and 'Habit and Impulse disorders' in the ICD-10. PG's relative youth as a diagnostic category may explain the inaccuracy of its phenomenology and clinical characterization. The objectives of this study were: to compare PG and OCD regarding clinical course and psychiatric comorbidity; to compare pathological gamblers, obsessive-compulsive patients, and normal controls regarding personality features, specifically focussing impulsivity and compulsivity. Forty pathological gamblers, 40 obsessive-compulsive patients, and 40 normal control volunteers, matched by gender, age, and educational level were included. They were assessed through the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry for evaluation of course of illness and psychiatric comorbidity; the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire; the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11, and an adapted version of the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for investigation of compulsivity. It was observed that OCD patients were younger at illness onset, had a more insidious course of the illness, with less frequent symptom free periods. PG and OCD presented high comorbidity with anxiety and depressive disorders, but PG presented a higher association to alcoholism and tobacco dependence as compared to OCD, while OCD presented a higher association to somatoform disorders as compared to PG. Pathological gamblers scored significantly higher than OCD patients and normal controls on impulsivity measures. OCD patients scored higher than pathological gamblers and normal controls on impulsivity. Pathological gambler scored higher than normal controls on compulsivity. It was concluded that PG and OCD have similarities regarding their high comorbidity to depression and anxiety. Nevertheless, PG's clinical course, characterized by recurrent symptomatic periods and symptom free periods, in addition to the high comorbidity with alcoholism and tobacco dependence, reinforces its resemblance to the dependencies. Regarding personality, impulsivity was the most salient feature found among pathological gamblers, thus supporting PG's classification as an impulsive control disorder. (AU) | |