High-density exposure therapy for obsessive-compulsive inpatients: a 1-year follow-up

This study evaluates the effects of individual high-density exposure (2-3 weeks, all day) plus response prevention therapy on 85 unselected inpatients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Twenty-eight therapist practitioners performed treatment.

At 1-year follow-up, self-ratings indicated that patients on average felt much improved. Impairment by both obsessions and compulsions was significantly reduced (p < 0.001 in each case), and OCD symptoms as assessed by two OCD questionnaires had also decreased significantly, as had depressiveness and overall symptomatology (all p < 0.001). Defining improvements as >30% successes, as done in other OCD treatment outcome studies, success rates were 68 and 69%, respectively, for the two OCD questionnaire scores, 75% for self-rated impairment by obsessions and 84.5% for compulsions, 85.6% for overall psychopathology (General Symptom Index), and 75% for depressiveness (Beck Depression Inventory). Effect sizes were >1 SD for all of the measures included.

We conclude that long-term effects for high-density treatment of unselected OCD patients bring about as good results as treatments with exposure and response prevention performed with selected patient samples in a research context.