How valid is Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised Scale Among Sri Lankan adults?

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Mental Health Screening

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects 1.9%-3.0% of the population and is often misdiagnosed.
• Existing screening tools lack cultural validation for Sri Lankan populations.
• Field-level screening for OCD in Sri Lanka is challenging due to the absence of validated instruments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised Scale (OCI-R) into Sinhala.
• To assess the validity and reliability of the Sinhala OCI-R for Sri Lankan adults.
• To establish a culturally appropriate screening tool for OCD in Sri Lanka.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 89 OCD patients and 89 controls from the National Hospital of Sri Lanka.
• Forward-backward translation method used for Sinhala translation by bilingual experts and psychiatrists.
• Criterion validity assessed by comparing OCI-R results with clinical diagnosis; Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve used to determine the cutoff value.

Main Results:

• The Sinhala OCI-R demonstrated high sensitivity (84.4%) and specificity (85.6%).
• Positive predictive value was 85.4% and negative predictive value was 84.6%.
• Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) exceeded 0.7 for all domains and the total scale, indicating reliability.

Conclusions:

• The Sinhala version of the OCI-R is a valid and reliable screening instrument for Sri Lankan adults.
• The identified cutoff value of 21 aids in diagnosing OCD in the Sri Lankan context.
• This validated tool can improve the early detection and management of OCD in Sri Lanka.