Quality of Life of Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Saudi Arabia

Background: Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that involves recurrent obsessions and repetitive compulsions which are severe enough to cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning of those who suffer from this chronic disorder.

Objective: The aim of this community-based study was to assess, comparatively the subjective quality of life (QOL) of patients with OCD and control group.

Methods: Participants with OCD and control general population group were assessed with the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and Beck Depression Inventory -II (BDI-II) to ascertain severity of obsessive and compulsive symptoms and depression, respectively. The 26-WHOQOL instrument was used to assess the quality of life of both patients with OCD (n=60) and control group (n=67).

Results: The mean scores of patients with OCD related to four QOL domains were significantly lower compared with general population (p<0.01). Both participants with OCD (73.7%) and general population group (85%) were satisfied with their QOL. A 39% of variance in QOL of participants with OCD was explained only by obsessions.

Conclusions: Participants with OCD showed significant reduction in all four domains of QOL compared with general population group. The severity of obsessions contributed significantly to diminished QOL of patients with obsessive compulsive disorder with a trend showing that depression also affects their quality of life. This research calls for a larger controlled study in the community nationwide.