Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: Is it Common in Multiple Sclerosis?

The aim of this study was to identify the frequency of the symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Forty patients (18 males and 22 females) were evaluated via clinician-administered Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y- BOCS) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD). The cutoff points of these scales were used as diagnostic criteria for OCD and depressive disorder. T-test, Fisher's exact test and chi-square were used to analyze data.

17.5% of patients had OCD and 69.2% had depressive dis- order. In all cases of OCD, the patients described the onset of symptoms to have begun before the clinical presentations of MS. Educational level of OCD cases was significantly higher than the non-OCD group (p<0.05). The frequency of obsession was significantly higher than compulsion (p<0.0001), and the most common obsession was “doubt”. The frequency of OCD was not significantly different between depressed and non-depressed patients.

The frequency of OCD in MS patients is significant and it cannot be accounted for by a high rate of comorbidity of depressive disorder.