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Obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
J L Eisen1, D A Beer, M T Pato
1Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, R.I, USA.
Objective:
The authors evaluated the frequency of DSM-III-R obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
Method:
Patients with schizophrenia (N = 52) or schizoaffective disorder (N = 25) were evaluated for the presence of obsessions and compulsions by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, chart review, and contact with the treating clinicians.
Results:
Six (7.8%) of the 77 patients met the DSM-III-R criteria for both obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that obsessive-compulsive disorder occurs in a substantial percentage of patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The addition of medications targeted at obsessive-compulsive disorder may be beneficial to these patients but requires systematic evaluation.