Clinically related or predictive factors and impacts on long-term treatment outcomes of involvement behaviors in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) frequently exhibit involvement behaviors (IBs) in which they accommodate their caregivers to their OCD symptoms by 1) asking them for reassurance, 2) forcing them to participate in their rituals, or 3) forcing them to assist in avoidance according to the patients' rules or demands. Such behaviors correspond to those of their caregivers, and are referred to as family accommodation (FA). METHODS: We performed multifactorial comparisons between 256 OCD patients with and without IBs in order to examine the clinical characteristics and long-term treatment outcomes of OCD patients with IBs. A multiple logistic regression analysis was also performed to identify the related and predictive factors of IBs. RESULTS: A total of 108 out of the 256 OCD patients examined (42%) were determined to exhibit IBs. OCD patients with IBs were differentially characterized by demographic and phenomenological characteristics (e.g. female predominance and poorer insight), more severe psychopathological features (e.g. lower GAFS, higher anxiety, or a depressive status), and poorer treatment outcomes. Furthermore, the predictive factors of IBs such as being female, having a higher compulsive score, and lower GAFS were identified by logistic analyses and structural equation modeling. CONCLUSION: The presence of IBs correlated with the severe clinical features, treatment refractoriness, and poorer long-term outcome of OCD. The severity of compulsions, being female, and lower GAFS were identified as predictive factors for the presence of IBs. Similar to FA, these findings appear to support the effectiveness of early identification and family-focused intervention in the treatment of OCD patients with IBs.

[A Case with Multiple Comorbidities of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders].

Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) have been introduced in a revision to DSM-5 as a novel category that is distinct from other anxiety disorders in DSM-IV. OCRDs consist of 5 primary disorders: obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), hoarding disorder (HD), skin picking disorder (SPD), and hair pulling disorder (HPD), which share core clinical features such as preoccupation or recurrent thoughts and/or repetitive behaviors. Repetitive behaviors in BDD and HD can be differentially characterized by the presence of cognitive components associated with preceding anxiety from those in SPD or HPD, which are only observed as motoric components that regulate emotions or alleviate tension. Thus, the validity of the OCRD category and specific interrelationships between each OCRD remain uncertain. In the present study, therefore, we presented a case of multiple comorbidities of OCRDs in order to discuss the nature of the OCRD category. Our patient was a 20-year-old female university student. At the age of 11 years old, she started picking at acne on her face. The psychopathological, and treatment features observed in this case indicated possible interrelationships among OCRDs, especially between cognitive and motoric OCRDs, which supported the clinical utility and continuous nature of this category.

The impacts of elevated autism spectrum disorder traits on clinical and psychosocial features and long-term treatment outcome in adult patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: While a close relation between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been pointed out, there are few studies that have investigated whether highly elevated ASD traits may have significant impacts on clinical and psychosocial features as well as long-term treatment outcome in adult OCD patients. METHODS: We assessed ASD traits using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in 81 Japanese patients with OCD. The relation between degree of ASD traits and clinical and psychosocial variables and the 48-week treatment outcomes was analyzed in the subjects. RESULTS: A substantial proportion of the subjects showed higher ASD traits (35%) with more severe depressive or pervasive anxiety status, and social impairments and lower QOL compared to other OCD individuals. However, elevated ASD traits may exert rather smaller impact on the OCD phenomenology along with on the long-term treatment outcome than expected. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated ASD traits may further emphasize the general psychopathological and socio-dysfunctional features rather than clinical aspects associated with OCD. Co-existing depressive or anxious symptom severity may further exacerbate the core-deficits related to ASD pathology. Thus the assessment of ASD traits should be important for understanding the clinical and psychosocial features and treatment responses in OCD patients.

A dissemination and education programme to improve the clinical behaviours of psychiatrists in accordance with treatment guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorders: the Effectiveness of Guidelines for Dissemination and Education in Psychiatric Treatment (EGUIDE) project.

BACKGROUND: Clinical practice guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder have been published. However, these have not had sufficient penetration in clinical settings. We developed the Effectiveness of Guidelines for Dissemination and Education in Psychiatric Treatment (EGUIDE) project as a dissemination and education programme for psychiatrists. AIMS: The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the EGUIDE project on the subjective clinical behaviour of psychiatrists in accordance with clinical practice guidelines before and 1 and 2 years after participation in the programmes. METHOD: A total of 607 psychiatrists participated in this study during October 2016 and March 2019. They attended both 1-day educational programmes based on the clinical practice guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, and answered web questionnaires about their clinical behaviours before and 1 and 2 years after attending the programmes. We evaluated the changes in clinical behaviours in accordance with the clinical practice guidelines between before and 2 years after the programme. RESULTS: All of the scores for clinical behaviours in accordance with clinical practice guidelines were significantly improved after 1 and 2 years compared with before attending the programmes. There were no significant changes in any of the scores between 1 and 2 years after attending. CONCLUSIONS: All clinical behaviours in accordance with clinical practice guidelines improved after attending the EGUIDE programme, and were maintained for at least 2 years. The EGUIDE project could contribute to improved guideline-based clinical behaviour among psychiatrists.