Psychiatric Comorbidity in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Severity of Anxiety and Depression

Background This study was designed to assess the co-occurrence of other psychiatric disorder (Axis-I comorbidities) in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and severity of anxiety and depression. Setting and Design Cross-sectional study at OCD clinic in department of psychiatry in tertiary heath care center. Material and Method The study included 100 patients attending psychiatric OPD at tertiary care center of Rajasthan, India who were clinically screened for obsessive compulsive symptoms. The patients, suggestive of suffering from OCD, were thoroughly evaluated for the diagnosis by using ICD-10 criteria for the OCD. All the participants were subjected to Hamilton anxiety (HAM-A) scale and Backs depression inventory (BDI) for assessing severity of anxiety and depression. Statistical analysis Commercially available software SPSS version 17. Results Psychiatric comorbidity in OCD occurred in 70 % of patients, Co-occurring disorders were depressive disorders 64 %, other anxiety disorders 17 %, persons suffering from mixed anxiety & depressive disorder were 22 %, substance use disorder (alcohol) 5 %, schizophrenia 5 %, bipolar affective disorder 2 % and tic disorder in 1 %. Conclusion Obsessive compulsive disorder patients had greater risk of higher levels of anxiety, depressive symptoms. In addition to depression and anxiety symptoms higher percentage of OCD patients have a lifetime history of another axis I disorder.