Subjective quality of life of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Background. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most frequent diagnosis in psychiatry. Patients with OCD suffer from obsessive thinking and compulsive behavior, which impact their everyday life negatively. Objective. Subjective quality of life (QoL) in patients with OCD was examined and compared to the general German population and to patients with schizophrenia. Methods. Seventy-five patients, aged 21-72, with OCD (ICD 10 F42.0-F42.2) were recruited from the outpatient clinic for anxiety disorders at the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Leipzig. By means of the WHOQOL-BREF, QoL was assessed in patients with OCD in a representative sample of patients with schizophrenia and in a sample of the general population of Saxony/Germany. Results. Compared with the general population, QoL in patients with OCDs was lower in all domains of the WHOQOL-BREF. Unexpectedly, QoL in patients with OCDs was lower in the domains "psychological well-being" and "social relationships" when compared with schizophrenia patients. Conclusions. OCD has a substantial adverse effect on patients' subjective QoL, which may be even greater than the adverse effect of schizophrenia. Therefore, it will be necessary to include interventions in the treatment of OCD aimed at improving residual deficits in psychosocial functioning and QoL.