Prevalence of Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms in Psychiatric Disorders: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background : Obsessive compulsive symptoms (OCS) have known to co-occur with various psychiatric disorders and have an impact on severity and course of these psychiatric disorders. Knowing the prevalence of OCS in different psychiatric disorders can give a better understanding about the illness and help in shaping its management. This study aims at finding prevalence, types & severity of OCS in patients presenting with different psychiatric disorders in Psychiatry Out patient department at a tertiary care institute. Methodology : A total of 380 patients were included in the. Clinical diagnosis of obsessions & compulsions was made as per criteria in Diagnostic & Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM IV- TR). Yale brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) was applied for assessing severity of obsessive compulsive symptoms. Results & Conclusion: Prevalence of OCs in Psychiatric Disorders to be 5%. The Prevalence of OCS in patients with Psychotic Disorders was found to be 9.9% , in patients with Mood Disorders was found to be 6.6%, in patients with Anxiety Disorders was found to be 2.3% and in patients with Substance Use Disorders was found to be 1.8%. The most common Form of Obsession was Obsessive Thoughts (31.6%), the most common Content was Inanimate-Impersonal (31.6%) and the most common Compulsion was Washing (60%). Mean YBOCS Score of all 19 patients was 9.95 (SD=5.1, Median=9). 36.8% patients had Subclinical Severity (0-7), 47.4% patients had Mild Severity (8-15) and 15.8% patients had Moderate Severity (16-23). Psychotic & mood disorders were further assessed for types & severity of OCS. Though the prevalence of OCS in current study is less compared to previous studies, it still is significant. Thus various psychiatric disorders should be evaluated for presence of OCS.