Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms/disorder in patients with schizophrenia: Prevalence, relationship with other symptom dimensions and impact on functioning.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of comorbid obsessive compulsive symptoms/disorder and its impact on outcome among patients with schizophrenia. 181 patients with schizophrenia were evaluated on Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Checklist, Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia, Positive and Negative Symptom Scale, Social Occupational Functioning Scale, Global Assessment of Functioning Scale and Indian Disability Evaluation and Assessment Scale. Slightly more than one-fourth of patients fulfilled the diagnosis of current (28.2%) and lifetime (29.8%) diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder. On Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Symptom Checklist, the most common lifetime obsessions were those of contamination (25.4%), followed by obsessions of need for symmetry or exactness (11.6%). The most common compulsions were those of cleaning/washing (27.1%), followed by those of checking (24.3%). Presence of obsessive compulsive symptoms was associated with younger age of onset, higher prevalence of comorbid depression, and current suicidal ideations. Thus, it can be concluded that a significant proportion of patients with schizophrenia have obsessive compulsive symptoms/disorder. Clinicians managing patients of schizophrenia should evaluate the patients thoroughly for presence of comorbid obsessive compulsive symptoms/disorder and must take the same into account while managing the patients.