Personality traits and smoking in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

As opposed to other psychiatric populations, subjects with obsessive-compul sive disorder (OCD) smoke less than the general population. The present stu dy aims at further investigating the relationship between smoking in OCD su bjects and personality traits. Sixty-four subjects with OCD were interviewed concerning their smoking habi ts. Personality traits were evaluated using the Karolinska Scales of Person ality, and specific obsessive-compulsive personality traits were elicited t hrough self-report questionnaires. Non-smokers were more easily fatigued, more inclined to worry, more remorse ful, less self-confident, less impulsive and became uneasy more frequently when urged to speed up, than smokers with OCD. Additionally, non-smokers fu lfilled significantly more obsessive-compulsive personality disorder criter ia as compared to the smokers (P < 0.001). We propose a clinical subtype of OCD related to non-smoking, psychasthenia, anxiety, and pronounced obsessive-compulsive personality disorder traits. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.