Journal of Islamic International Medical College (Mar 2018)
Prevalence of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in an Outpatient Sample of Patients with Schizophrenia
Abstract
Objective: To assess the prevalence of clinically significant obsessive compulsive symptoms (OCS) in an outpatient sample of patients with schizophrenia and investigate the correlates of this association in the study subjects. Study Design: Descriptive, cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the outpatients' clinic of the Department of Psychiatry, Pakistan Railways Teaching Hospital, Rawalpindi from 05 October 2016 to 10 March 2017. Materials and Methods: Fifty consecutively presenting schizophrenic cases were assessed by Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale to determine the presence and severity OCS. Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale was used to study the positive and negativesymptoms of schizophrenia and Hamilton Rating Scale for depression was administered to evaluate depressive symptoms. A demographic checklist was used to obtain general information. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 22 and descriptive statistics were employed. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 31.1 ± 9.9 years, and the mean duration of schizophrenia was 8.8 ± 5.9 years. Forty percent of the patients had significant OCS and 16% had DSM-5 diagnosis of OCD.The overall score on Y-BOCS was significantly correlated with the total score on PANSS, PANSS-Positive score,PANSS-General score, and the total score on HRSD. Conclusion: More than 1/3 of the sample had OCS and this was significantly correlated with positive psychotic symptoms and overall psychopathology. Moreover, OCS were associated with more depressive symptoms in the schizophrenic subjects studied. These results warrant further investigation of obsessive compulsive comorbidity in schizophrenia.