[Obsessive-compulsive disorders in adolescents with diagnosed schizophrenia]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Neuroscience
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can co-occur with schizophrenia.
• The relationship between antipsychotic medication and OCD onset in schizophrenia requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of OCD in adolescent schizophrenia patients.
• To investigate the timing of OCD onset in relation to schizophrenia diagnosis and neuroleptic treatment.
• To explore potential links between specific atypical antipsychotics and OCD development.

Main Methods:

• Study included 200 adolescent inpatients and outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia.
• Diagnostic interviews using SCID-P (DSM-III-R, DSM-IV) were conducted.
• Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and a custom questionnaire assessed OCD and onset details.

Main Results:

• OCD was diagnosed in 13% of adolescent schizophrenia patients.
• OCD onset occurred before schizophrenia (2%), with schizophrenia (4.5%), or during atypical neuroleptic treatment (6%).
• Patients on clozapine (14.3%) and risperidone (12.5%) showed higher OCD prevalence during treatment compared to olanzapine (5.9%).
• No OCD was observed with prior classical neuroleptic use.
• No statistically significant differences were found between atypical antipsychotics regarding OCD onset.

Conclusions:

• A significant portion of adolescent schizophrenia patients exhibit OCD.
• Atypical antipsychotics, particularly clozapine and risperidone, may be associated with the emergence of OCD symptoms.
• Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms, possibly involving serotonergic pathways or shared symptomatology.