Psychiatry Research EG

Background Despite the growing body of evidence supporting the existence of an epidemiologic and biologic relation between obsessive–compulsive disorder and schizophrenia, the association remains poorly understood. Patients and methods The sample consisted of 60 individuals, 30 healthy controls and 30 patients, of both sexes, recruited from the outpatient clinics and inpatient wards of the Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University. The included patients had to fulfill the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed., criteria for schizophrenia and had to be aged between 18 and 60 years. All participants were subjected to psychiatric assessment for obsessive–compulsive symptoms on the basis of the Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale and to functional assessment on the basis of the Global Assessment of Function scale. Results The frequency of obsessive–compulsive symptoms and obsessive–compulsive disorder in the sample was estimated to be 23.3 and 13.3%, respectively. The most frequent obsessions were contamination (30%), religious obsession (26.7%), and sexual ideas (16.7%). The most common compulsions were cleaning (33%), checking (23.3%), and hoarding (16.7%). There was no significant correlation between Axis IV, admission times, and Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale scores. Conclusion This study concluded that obsessive–compulsive symptoms are prevalent among schizophrenic patients, especially among those with paranoia, and strongly affect the global functions of those patients. Keywords: Egyptian sample, obsessive–compulsive disorder, obsessive–compulsive symptoms, schizophrenia, Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale