Assessment of Quality of Life (QOL) in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Dysthymic Disorder (DD): A Comparative Study

Abstract

Introduction: There is paucity of data on Quality of Life (QOL) in non-psychotic mental disorders. Aim: To assess the Quality of Life (QOL) in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and compare it with Dysthymic Disorder (DD). Materials and Methods: This hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted in 30 patients each diagnosed to have OCD and DD during October 2009 to September 2011 in a medical institution in Davanagere, Karnataka, India. DSM-IVTR (Diagnostic statistical manual-IV-Text Revised) criteria was used for diagnosis of OCD and DD. Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and WHO QOL BREF (brief form) scales were used. Data was analysed by independent sample t-test. Results: Overall QOL score was 51.07(SD=11.47) and 50.91(SD=7.41) in OCD and DD groups respectively. QOL score was comparatively low in psychological domain with score of 44.12(SD=14.14) and 45.10(12.35) in OCD and DD respectively. There was no significant difference in the QOL score of the two groups with respect to socio demographic variables in OCD group, but it was different with respect to place of residence in DD group (p0.05). Conclusion: Overall QOL score was average and there was no significant difference of QOL score between the OCD and DD groups implying that both these non-psychotic mental disorders may have same influence or effect on QOL of the subjects. Further analytical studies will explore the associated factors of QOL in OCD and DD.

Keywords

• qol score
• who qol bref
• y-bocs scale