Can early improvement be an indicator of treatment response in obsessive-compulsive disorder? Implications for early-treatment decision-making

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Early Treatment Responses of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Clomipramine in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

“…Previous adult studies have suggested that early improvement with SSRIs and clomipramine is associated with response in short-term trials. 40,41 Additionally, more effective, evidence-based treatments for SRI-refractory pediatric patients with OCD are needed, as there is limited guidance for further treatments once SRIs and CBT prove unhelpful. 14 Further research is needed to identify these novel agents.…”

Are current pharmacotherapeutic strategies effective in treating OCD?

“…Third, there is a need to identify early predictors of response to medications rather than wait for a full trial of 12 weeks. There is preliminary evidence that early response to medications predicts later response [32]. Fourth, SSRIs/clomipramine do not induce persistent and full remission in most patients.…”

Neural Correlates of Response to Pharmacotherapy in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Individualized Cortical Morphology-Based Structural Covariance

“…After the initial 4 months of SRI-based pharmacotherapy, all of the subjects with OCD underwent a clinical re-evaluation consisting of the Y-BOCS, HAM-D, and HAM-A, which were scored by certified psychiatrists. Based on the percentage change in the Y-BOCS total score after the 4 months, the subjects with a Y-BOCS total score improvement ≥ 35% were classified as 'responders,' and all the other subjects were classified as 'nonresponders' (da Conceicao Costa et al, 2013;Dold et al, 2013;Farris et al, 2013).…”