Obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder

OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated the frequency of DSM-III-R obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. METHOD: Patients with schizophrenia (N = 52) or schizoaffective disorder (N = 25) were evaluated for the presence of obsessions and compulsions by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, chart review, and contact with the treating clinicians. RESULTS: Six (7.8%) of the 77 patients met the DSM-III-R criteria for both obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that obsessive-compulsive disorder occurs in a substantial percentage of patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The addition of medications targeted at obsessive-compulsive disorder may be beneficial to these patients but requires systematic evaluation.