Compulsive and Obsessive Disorder Connected to Increased Mortality Risk

A new study, published in The BMJ, has highlighted an increased risk of death in people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden conducted the study, investigating the mortality risk from natural and unnatural causes in individuals with OCD compared to those without the disorder.

The study, which is observational in nature, used data from several Swedish population registers to identify 61,378 people with OCD and 613,780 individuals without OCD matched (1:10) by sex, birth year, and county of residence, and a further sibling group of 34,085 people with OCD and 47,874 without OCD. The average age at OCD diagnosis was 27 years, and groups were monitored for an average of 8 years from January 1973 to December 2020.

After adjusting for a range of potentially influential factors, people with OCD had an 82% increased risk of death from any cause. The risk of all-cause death was similar in both women and men, but women with OCD had a higher relative risk of dying due to unnatural causes than men with OCD.

People with OCD had a higher death rate than matched individuals without OCD (8.1 versus 5.1 per 1,000 person years, respectively). The excess risk of death was higher for natural causes, with a 31% increased risk, and particularly for unnatural causes of death, with a three-fold increased risk.

Among unnatural causes, suicide showed the highest risk of death, with a nearly five-fold increased risk, followed by accidents with a 92% increased risk. The study also found that people with OCD had increased risks of death due to respiratory system diseases (73%), mental and behavioral disorders (58%), diseases of the genitourinary system (55%), endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases (47%), diseases of the circulatory system (33%), nervous system (21%), and digestive system (20%). However, people with OCD had a 10% lower risk of death due to tumors (neoplasms).

The study's conclusions suggest the need for improved management of comorbidities and risk factors associated with unnatural causes of death in people with OCD. Better surveillance, prevention, and early intervention strategies should be implemented to reduce the risk of fatal outcomes in people with OCD. Despite the study's limitations, the results remained largely unchanged after further adjustment for psychiatric conditions and family factors.

The findings may not generalize to other settings with different populations, health systems, and medical practices. However, the study was large and based on high-quality national data, and the results remained largely unchanged after further adjustment for psychiatric conditions and family factors.

In conclusion, the study published by The BMJ suggests that people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have an increased risk of death from both natural and unnatural causes compared to those without the disorder. Improved understanding and management of these risks could lead to significant improvements in the lives of people with OCD.