Researchers at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Duke University, Brown, Michigan, and University of Massachusetts, Worcester, as members of the Pediatric-OCD Treatment Study II (POTS II) Randomized Controlled Trial, examined effects of augmenting serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) treatment with short-term cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in 124 pediatric outpatients, 7 to 17 years of age, with a primary diagnosis of OCD. A positive response to treatment was an improvement in a Children's Yale-Brown OCD Scale score by 30% or more over 12 weeks. Medication management plus 14 concurrent training sessions in CBT (68.6% responders) was superior to medication only (30% responders) or medication plus instruction in CBT only (34% responders). The plus CBT training session group was superior to the other 2 groups (P <.01 for both). The plus CBT instruction group was not statistically superior to medication only group (P=.72). [1]
COMMENT. Instruction in cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) fails to augment benefits of medication management of OCD whereas the addition of CBT training sessions to medication treatment is associated with a significant improvement in response. The authors advocate dissemination of CBT into community settings beyond the academic context so that children affected may benefit from the combined SRI and CBT treatment for OCD. A familial association of OCD, ADHD and Tourette syndromes suggests an overlapping neurobiology. [2]