2019-20 coronavirus outbreak

Virology

Psychiatry

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Outbreak

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Immunology

Pediatrics

Psychology

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Internal medicine

Exacerbation

Young adult

Medicine

Obsessive compulsive

Pandemic

Disease

Psychiatry Research

To investigate the effects of COVID-19 pandemic and related home confinement on symptom profile, symptom severity and exacerbation of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms and related factors among young subjects with OCD. Young subjects who have been followed up with a primary diagnosis of OCD in a university hospital were reached by telephone or online programs to assess symptom profile, symptom severity and exacerbation during pandemic. Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive (CY-BOCS) and Clinical Global Impression- Severity (CGI-S) Scales were used to rate symptom profile and severity before pandemic and during pandemic periods. There was a significant increase in the frequency of contamination obsessions (p=0.008) and cleaning/washing compulsions (p=0.039) during pandemic period. CY-BOCS obsessions (p<0.001), compulsions subscales (p<0.001) and total scores (p<0.001), and CGI-S scores (p<0.001) during pandemic period were statistically higher than before pandemic period. There was a significant relationship between the change in CY-BOCS scores with talking/searching in the social environment about COVID-19, daily preoccupation about COVID-19, duration of OCD diagnosis and diagnosis of COVID-19 in someone familiar. Young subjects with OCD may develop additional symptoms and worsen already existing symptoms of OCD during COVID-19 pandemic.

Exacerbation of obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms in children and adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic