A study of the socio-demographic profile and prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in patients of obsessive compulsive disorder

BACKGROUND- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is the fourth most common psychiatric disorder with a chronic course affecting people of all age group and gender. It is a severely comorbid condition with about sixty percent fulfilling the criteria for another psychiatric condition thus denoting a severe course of illness and treatment challenges. Limited data is available in this part of the country regarding prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in patients of obsessive compulsive disorder. AIM- To study the socio-demographic profile and prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in patients of obsessive compulsive disorder. METHOD- A hospital based cross-sectional observational study was conducted in 50 patients attending the Psychiatry Department of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital diagnosed with OCD clinically using the diagnostic criteria of ICD-10. Patients were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview was applied to screen for the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in those subjects.Duration of the study was 1 year. Statistical Analysis- Data was analysed using Chi-square test. RESULTS- Psychiatric comorbidity was seen in 56 of the study subjects and majority of them had anxiety spectrum disorder. Significant association was noted between psychiatric comorbidity and marital status and history of substance use in the subjects. CONCLUSION- This study reports that psychiatric comorbidity in OCD patients is quite frequent. Early detection of it can help in choosing proper treatment modalities and improving the quality of life in them.