Aripiprazole As an Adjuvant Treatment for Obsessive and Compulsive Symptoms in Manic Phase of Bipolar Disorder: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Background and objective: Our Objective is to study the effects of aripiprazole as an adjuvant treatment for obsessive and compulsive (OC) symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) type I, manic phase. Patients and methods: In this 8-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial, 56 patients with BD who had OC symptoms were randomly allocated to receive aripiprazole or placebo plus their routine medication regimen (lithium + clonazepam). Yale Brown obsessive compulsive behavior scale (YBOCS) was administered to evaluate the outcomes. Adverse effects were also registered. Results: Of 56 BD patients with OC symptoms which were randomly allocated in two groups of aripiprazole (n = 29) and placebo group (n = 27), 46 patients (23 in aripiprazole group and 23 in placebo group) completed the trial. Throughout the trial, the mean score of YBOCS in the aripiprazole group decreased from 21 +/- 4.81 to 9.6 +/- 2.2 (P < 0.001) and in the placebo group dropped from 20.46 +/- 4.8 to 17.32 +/- 3.7 (P < 0.001). At the end of the study, 21 (91.30%) patients in the aripiprazole group and 1 (4.34%) patient in the placebo group had > 34% decline in YBOCS score (P < 0.01). No serious adverse effects were reported in any groups. Conclusions: The results of our study revealed that aripiprazole can be used as an effective adjuvant agent for treatment of obsessive and compulsive symptoms in manic patients.