Risk factors for delaying treatment seeking in obsessive-compulsive disorder

BackgroundDespite the multiple alternatives of treatment, it is well known that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) delay seeking treatment. In this study, the aim was to determine the risk factors for delaying treatment seeking in OCD patients.MethodsThe sample consisted of 132 OCD who completed the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Symptom Checklist, and Beck Depression Inventory.ResultsIn univariate analyses with risk evaluation, income level, being single or divorced, having a history of psychiatric treatment, poor insight for the symptoms, and obsessions of hoarding were the variables that were found to be significant. In the regression model, history of psychiatric treatment and duration of OCD were the 2 variables that remained statistically significant.ConclusionThis was the first study wherein the sample included patients who were recruited from a nonpsychiatric department: the dermatology clinic. Application to dermatology has not been determined as a risk factor for delaying treatment seeking in OCD patients.