Comorbid bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders: A commentary.

Abstract

The concept of comorbidity in psychiatry has been expanded far beyond its original meaning. In its classic formulation in 1970, the epidemiologist Alvan R. Feinstein defined comorbidity in relation to a specific index condition, as any distinct additional entity that has existed or may occur during the clinical course of a patient who has the index disease under study . In Feinstein s formulation, the implication was that a completely different and independent disease occurred at the same time as another disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.