Evaluation of obsessive-compulsive disorder in cancer patients: A case-control study

This study was aimed to investigate the frequency of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is known to cause depression in cancer patients and may result in cancer treatment failure.

A total of 202 cancer patients and 322 healthy individuals were included in this cross-sectional, case-control study. Sociodemographic data form and Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Questionnaire (MOCQ) were administered to the participants. The cancer patients' current MOCQ scores and prediagnosis MOCQ scores, and the MOCQ scores of the control group were compared.

When the cancer patients and control groups were evaluated according to the MOCQ scales, the cancer patients' MOCQ-control, MOCQ-doubt, MOCQ-rumination, and MOCQ-total scores were found to be higher compared with the control group (P < 0.001, all). When the cancer patients' prediagnosis and postdiagnosis MOCQ scores were compared, it was found that their MOCQ-control, MOCQ-cleanliness, MOCQ-doubt, MOCQ-rumination, and MOCQ-total scores after cancer diagnosis were higher than those before cancer diagnosis (P < 0.001, all). In the cancer patients group, it was observed that the MOCQ scores were higher in those who were at the early stage (P = 0.008), women (P < 0.001), unmarried (P = 0.004), highly educated (P = 0.006), unemployed (P = 0.037), and living in a city center (P = 0.023). There was a positive correlation between the cancer stage and the MOCQ-slowness score (P = 0.043). According to the logistic regression analysis, being a woman, having a high education level, living in a city, and having early-stage cancer were found to be the independent predictive factors for the increased MOCQ scores in cancer patients.

It was observed that the MOCQ scores were higher in the cancer patients compared with those in the control group, and the cancer patients' MOCQ scores increased after diagnosis. Having an early-stage cancer disease, being a woman, having a high education level, and living in a city center were the predictive factors for the increased MOCQ scores in cancer patients.