Adult obsessive–compulsive disorder and quality of life outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

• We did a meta-analysis on domains of QOL outcomes affected in OCD.
• We tested whether QOL outcomes are moderated by age, gender and OCD severity.
• Emotional QOL is the domain most affected in OCD.
• QOL is most affected in patients with female gender and less severe OCD.
• Treatments should focus on QOL for female patients with less severe symptoms.

In the current literature, there are no meta-analyses assessing quality of life (QOL) in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Knowledge of QOL domains mainly impaired in OCD could provide specific areas for intervention. The current meta-analysis assessed differences in global, work and social, family, and emotional QOL outcomes between patients with OCD and heathy controls. Age, gender and OCD severity were examined as moderators.Case–control studies were included if patients with primary OCD were compared with controls on QOL outcomes. Electronic databases (1966–October 2014) were searched.Thirteen case–control studies were included (n = 26,015). Patients with OCD had significantly lower scores on QOL relative to controls, with moderate effect sizes on global QOL and large effect size on work and social, emotional and family QOL outcomes. Studies using higher percentages of female patients and patients with less severe OCD symptoms reported significantly lower QOL outcomes for patients with OCD than controls.Studies comparing patients with OCD and patients with other psychiatric disorders were not included. Treatments should address QOL in OCD, particularly emotional QOL. Additional strategies targeting QOL should be implemented for female patients with less severe OCD symptoms.