Reduced interoceptive accuracy in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: A case-control study.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by pathological doubt and uncertainty.
• Recent research suggests a link between uncertainty and impaired interoceptive abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess Interoceptive Accuracy (IA) in individuals with OCD.
• To investigate the association between IA, alexithymia, anxiety, and depression in OCD patients.

Main Methods:

• 18 patients with OCD and 18 healthy controls (HC) were recruited.
• Interoceptive accuracy was measured using the Heartbeat Counting Task.
• Psychometric assessments included Y-BOCS, TAS-20, BIS-11, HAM-A, and HAM-D.

Main Results:

• OCD patients demonstrated significantly lower Interoceptive Accuracy compared to HC.
• OCD patients exhibited higher levels of anxiety, depression, and alexithymia than HC.
• These psychological factors were not significantly associated with the reduced IA in OCD patients.

Conclusions:

• The findings confirm impaired interoceptive accuracy in OCD.
• Reduced IA in OCD is not explained by co-occurring anxiety, depression, or alexithymia.
• Interoceptive abilities may be a target for novel therapeutic interventions in OCD.