A comparison of three assessment instruments for obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

The psychometric characteristics and relationship among the Leyton Obsessional Inventory, Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory, and Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale were examined in a sample of 30 obsessive-compulsive patients diagnosed using a structured interview. The majority of the subscales of the various measures were found to have good internal consistency across gender and the mean scores were similar to those reported in other studies. There were also moderate correlations between several of the measures and clinician ratings of depression. The results suggest that (1) gender differences should be further explored in future research (2) caution should be used when extrapolating the results of treatment studies that use different OCD measures, and (3) a measure of depression should always be included in OCD studies to control for the possible effects of depressed mood.