Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND Pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating psychological anxiety disorder. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective therapy for OCD, but the evaluation results from various studies are inconsistent and incomprehensive. This meta-analysis examined the efficacy of CBT in treatment of OCD. MATERIAL AND METHODS A literature search identified 13 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The efficacy of CBT on OCD was evaluated by comparing post-treatment and pre-treatment Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) scores. Weighted mean difference (WMD) was generated for the statistical evaluation. Heterogeneity was evaluated by I2 index. RESULTS A decrease in WMD and a statistical significance (p<0.0001) in both CY-BOCS and CGI scores between pre- and post-CBT treatment were observed in both overall database (-11.73) and USA subgroup (-11.371), which indicates a dramatic relief of OCD symptoms after CBT treatment. Heterogeneity was detected in overall database and USA subgroup, which resulted in an application of the random-effects model to both groups. Publication bias was examined by both Begg's funnel plot and Egger's test and no publication bias was detected. CONCLUSIONS We concluded that CBT is efficacious in treating children's OCD.