Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Tied To Higher Schizophrenia Risk

the Psychiatry Advisor take:

People that are diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are at increased risk of developing schizophrenia or schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Sandra M. Meier, PhD, of Aarhus University, Denmark, and colleagues examined the relationship between OCD and schizophrenia, including whether having a family history of OCD increases the risk of schizophrenia.

The team examined data from 3 million Danes born between 1955 and 2006, who underwent follow-up between 1995 and 2012. A total of 30,556 people developed schizophrenia or schizophrenia spectrum disorders during this period.

The presence of prior diagnosis of OCD was associated with an increased risk for developing schizophrenia (incidence rate ratio=6.90; 95% CI, 6.25-7.60) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (IRR = 5.77; 95% CI: 5.33-6.22) later in life, the researchers reported in JAMA Psychiatry. 

In addition, children of parents who were diagnosed with OCD also had an increased risk of schizophrenia (IRR=4.31; 95% CI: 2.72-6.43) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (IRR=3.10; 95% CI: 2.17-4.27).

“The observed increase in risk suggests that OCD, schizophrenia, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders probably lay on a common etiological pathway,” the researchers concluded. “Future research is needed to disentangle which genetic and environmental factors are truly common to OCD and schizophrenia or schizophrenia spectrum disorders.”