Quality of life in treatment-seeking patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder with and without major depressive disorder.

Objective: To compare the quality of life of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with and without depression comorbidity.

Method: Treatment-seeking outpatients (n = 56) with OCD (n = 28) or comorbid OCD and major depressive disorder (MDD) (n = 28), matched by age, sex, and antidepressant medication use, completed a multidimensional measure of quality of life.

Results: Patients with comorbid OCD and MDD reported significantly greater decrements in their subjective feelings, social relations, and a composite measure of general activities (for example, overall well-being and life satisfaction) in comparison with patients with OCD without MDD. These differences were not owing to the presence of other Axis I comorbid disorders.

Conclusions: Treatments addressing depression comorbidity in the context of primary OCD are required to improve the quality of life of this severely affected population of OCD sufferers.