Reduced disgust propensity is associated with improvement in contamination/washing symptoms in obsessive–compulsive disorder

• Disgust propensity is associated with contamination/washing symptoms.
• Reduction in disgust propensity is associated with improvement in contamination/washing symptoms.
• Disgust propensity may be a marker specific to the contamination/washing subtype of OCD.

ObjectivesDisgust is a well-established phenomenon with known neurobiological correlates. However, it remains unclear how or whether disgust changes with clinical treatment, because few longitudinal studies have tracked the association of disgust vulnerability and clinical symptoms in patient populations.MethodsWe assessed disgust propensity and symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) in 134 patients receiving intensive residential treatment for OCD. Using linear regression with adjustment for age, sex, and depression severity, we tested the association between change in disgust propensity and change in OCD symptoms from admission to discharge.ResultsChange in disgust propensity was significantly associated with improvement in contamination/washing symptoms (β=0.25 [95% confidence interval: 0.11–0.39]; P=0.001). No significant association was found between change in disgust propensity and change in other OCD symptom dimensions.ConclusionsIn patients with OCD undergoing intensive residential treatment, disgust propensity appears to improve in parallel with contamination/washing symptoms.