Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is still an unrecognised disorder: A study on the recognition of OCD in psychiatric outpatients

ObjectiveThe study aims to investigate the recognition of patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in psychiatric outpatients.Subjects and methodsA total of 2282 outpatients seen at 14 different psychiatric clinics in South Germany were asked to participate in the study. Five hundred and eighty-nine (30%) of the original 2282 patients met screening criteria for OCD, and of those, 237 (42%) participated in the final interview including DSM-IV diagnosis, and comorbidity.ResultsSixty-nine of 589 participating patients who screened positively for obsessive symptoms actually had an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Only 19 (28%) of the outpatients diagnosed with OCD according to DSM-IV criteria were also given this diagnosis by their consultant. The psychopathology scores indicated that the OCD patients had clinically relevant OCD with a mean Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Score (Y-BOCS) of 17.5 (± 5.4), and a mean Clinical Global Impression Score (CGI) of 5.2 (± 1.2).ConclusionsIn outpatient clinics over 70% of OCD patients remain unrecognised and thus untreated by consultants. Screening questions provide a rapid way of identifying those who may have OCD and should be incorporated into every mental state examination by consultants.