QUALITY-OF-LIFE FOR PATIENTS WITH OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER

Objective: The health-related quality of life of patients with obsessi ve-compulsive disorder was compared to published norms for the general U.S. population and for patients with either depressive disorders or diabetes. Method: Sixty medication-free outpatients with moderate to s evere obsessive-compulsive disorder were evaluated by using the Struct ured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R and the Yale-Brown Obsessive Com pulsive Scale. Health-related quality of life was measured with the se lf-rated Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Resu lts: The instrumental role performance and social functioning of the p atients with obsessive-compulsive disorder were worse than those of th e general population and of diabetes patients. The more severe the obs essive-compulsive disorder, the lower were the patients' social functi oning scores, even after depression ratings were controlled for; score s on instrumental role performance did not correlate with severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The ratings oi the obsessive-compulsive disorder patients on physical health domains resembled those of the g eneral population and exceeded those of the diabetes patients. The gen eral health and physical health ratings of the obsessive-compulsive di sorder patients exceeded those of the depressed patients. In mental he alth domains, after adjustment for differences in gender distribution, quality of life ratings were similar for the patients with obsessive- compulsive disorder and those with depressive disorders. Conclusions: Moderate to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder is associated with im paired social functioning and impaired instrumental role performance, but only impairment in social functioning is linearly related to sever ity of obsessive-compulsive disorder.