background Obsessive compulsive disorder (ocd) is a debilitating disorder, which was listed as the 10th most disabling medical disorder in the who burden of disease study. Although once considered rare, recent estimates indicate that ocd has a lifetime prevalence rate of approximately 2% worldwide. ocd is characterised by recurrent intrusive and anxiety-provoking thoughts or images and repetitive compulsive behaviours. The disorder tends to interfere with the ability to work and the ability to form healthy relationships with others. In half of the patients referred to mental health care, the disorder runs a chronic course despite adequate treatment. Determining factors of this unfavourable outcome remain unknown.
aim To describe and predict the six-year long-term prognosis of ocd in terms of course, the development of comorbidity, the development of chronicity and public health consequences as this relates to other anxiety disorders and major depression.
method Prospective longitudinal study in over 400 patients.
results We included 419 ocd patients, of whom 56% (n = 234) was female. The mean age of the sample was 36.6 years and the mean ocd duration 18.5 years. Lifetime and current comorbidity with major depressive disorder was high: 56.3% versus 56.3% respectively. The same holds true for anxiety disorders other than ocd (36% current comorbidity and 46.5% lifetime).
conclusion The present sample strongly resembles another longitudinal study of ocd in the usa: The Brown study, N = 293 (Pinto e.a. 2006). The knowledge provided by this study will contribute to improvements in the adequate treatment of ocd and the development of preventive strategies for a chronic outcome.