Do the obsessive-compulsive symptoms have an effect in schizophrenia?

Objective: Schizophrenia presents with different symptom domains and functionality during its course. Obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms in schizophrenia have many themes to be clarified. Our aim was to compare schizophrenia patients with and without OC symptoms in terms of symptom domains, cognitive functions, and quality of life.

Method: Sixty-two patients who met schizophrenia diagnosis were assessed with Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition consecutively over a period of 12 months in the setting of an outpatient clinic at medical university hospital. Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms, and neuropsychologic tests were used. Quality of life was assessed with Quality of Life Scale for Patients with Schizophrenia.

Results: Obsessive-compulsive symptoms along with schizophrenia were present in a considerable number in our sample (35.5%). Level of psychotic symptoms was more severe and quality of life was lower in schizophrenia patients with OC symptoms. A positive correlation was found between obsessions and delusions. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between compulsions and total Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms score and bizarre behaviors subscore. There was no difference between the 2 groups regarding neurocognitive functions. The level of quality of life of schizophrenic patients with OC symptoms was lower. Besides, no correlation was found between OC symptoms and neurocognition and quality of life.

Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that schizophrenia patients with OC symptoms had severe psychotic symptoms with a distinctive clinical picture including good neurocognition but poor functioning.