Obsessive-compulsive symptoms among the general population during the first COVID-19 epidemic wave in Italy

• Published in: Journal of psychiatric research Vol. 153; pp. 18 - 24
• Main Authors: Pacitti, Francesca, Socci, Valentina, D'Aurizio, Giulia, Jannini, Tommaso Benedetto, Rossi, Alessandro, Siracusano, Alberto, Rossi, Rodolfo, Di Lorenzo, Giorgio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2022
• Subjects: Anxiety - epidemiology; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 related risk factors; Female; Humans; Male; Mental health; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - diagnosis; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - epidemiology; Obsessive-compulsive symptoms; Pandemics; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - epidemiology; COVID-19; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Obsessive-compulsive symptoms; COVID-19 related risk factors; Mental health
• ISSN: 0022-3956; 1879-1379; 1879-1379
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.06.043

This study investigated obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) in the Italian general population during the initial stage of the pandemic and the impact of COVID-19 related potential risk factors. A web-based survey was spread throughout the internet between March 27th and April 9th, 2020. Twenty thousand two hundred forty-one individuals completed the questionnaire, 80.6% women. The Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) was included to assess the severity of the obsessive-compulsive symptom domains. Further, selected outcomes were depression, anxiety, insomnia, perceived stress, and COVID-19 related stressful life events. A panel of logistic or linear regression analyses was conducted to explore the impact of COVID-19 related risk factors, socio-demographic variables, and mental health outcomes on OCS. A total of 7879 subjects (38,9%) reported clinically relevant OCS. Specifically, more than half of the sample (52%) reported clinically relevant symptoms in the Contamination domain, 32.5% in the Responsibility domain, 29.9% in the Unacceptable thoughts domain, and 28.6 in the Symmetry/Ordering domain. Being a woman was associated with OCS, except for Symmetry/Ordering symptoms. A lower education level and younger age were associated with OCS. Moreover, depression, anxiety, perceived stress symptoms, insomnia, and different COVID-19 related stressful events were associated with OCS. We found high rates of OCS, particularly in the contamination domain, in the Italian general population exposed to the first COVID-19 epidemic wave and COVID-19 related risk factors. These findings suggest the need to investigate further the trajectories of OCS in the general population along with the long-term socio-economic impact of the pandemic.