When a nightmare comes true: Change in obsessive-compulsive disorder over the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic

Jelinek, Lena; Voderholzer, Ulrich; Moritz, Steffen; Carsten, Hannes Per; Riesel, Anja und Miegel, Franziska (2021): When a nightmare comes true: Change in obsessive-compulsive disorder over the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In: Journal of Anxiety Disorders, Bd. 84, 102493

Abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has particularly affected people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Exacerbation of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) has been suspected for those with contaminationrelated OCD (C-OCD). However, the course of OCS over the ongoing pandemic remains unclear. We assessed 268 participants with OCD (n = 184 with C-OCD) in an online survey at the beginning of the pandemic in Germany, reassessing 179 participants (66.8%, 104 C-OCD) three months later. We assessed severity of OCD (OCI-R), depression (PHQ-9), experiential avoidance, as well as functional and dysfunctional beliefs. Overall, OCS and depressive symptoms did not substantially change over time. However, when people with and without C-OCD were compared, symptoms improved in patients without C-OCD (nC-OCD) but remained stable in patients with C-OCD over time. Symptom improvement was associated with male gender, higher initial OCI-R, and nC-OCD. Experiential avoidance and beliefs at the beginning of the pandemic did not generally predict change in OCS. People with OCD, particularly those with nC-OCD, showed tentative signs for signs of adapting, whereas distress in those with C-OCD remained at a high level, underlining the burden for these patients. Clinicians should be informed about how to maintain effective treatment for C-OCD during a pandemic.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 0887-6185
• Sprache: Englisch