Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a severe and disabling condition that impairs quality of life in several mental and physical domains: results of the literature are consistent in indicating a poorer quality of life as compared to community norms worldwide; concerning functioning, the areas most affected are social relationships and family function- ing. Studies that compared functioning and quality of life across different mental disorders consistently found that OCD compromises quality of life to a similar degree as schizophrenia. Severity of obsessive-compulsive and comorbid depressive symptoms predicts a poorer quality of life in OCD patients, while age, gender, age at onset, or duration of the disorder do not influence quality of life.
Treatments are associated with significant improvements in quality of life; however, several studies failed to find a significant association between improvements in obsessive-compulsive symptoms and quality of life changes and other could identify a subgroup of patients with significant response in terms of reduction in symptoms but minimal improvement in quality of life. It is still to be determined whether these subjects could be offered additional interven- tions such as vocational rehabilitation or social skills training. Further studies are strongly needed to understand which baseline characteristics could predict quality of life improve- ments with treatment.
OCD impairs quality of life even in relatives of OCD patients. This impairment appears to be mediated through accommodation of the relatives to obsessive-compulsive symptoms of the patients and through the burden due to consequences of living with and caring for people with a chronic and disabling disease. This area of research is highly neglected; preliminary investiga- tions suggest that family involvement in treatment through psychoeducation is effective in reducing perceived burden and improving quality of life and might also be effective in ameliorating obsessive-compulsive symptoms of the patients, although this need to be demonstrated.
