The Impact of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder on Patients’ Life: A Transcultural Perspective

Introduction: Despite the common sociocultural background in the Arab world, considerable differences exist between its different countries. Aim of the Study: The study was conducted aiming at evaluating the impact of obsessive compulsive disorder on patients’ life in two relatively different Arab cultures and the implication of these cultures on OCD presentation and symptomatology. Subjects and Methods: Forty four OCD patients (22 Saudi and 22 Egyptian) were compared to 43 control subjects (19 Saudi and 24 Egyptian) matching age, sex, social class and education of patients. All subjects were assessed using: 1. A emi-structured interview that covers demographic data, psychiatric and medical history. 2. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV (SCID). 3. World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-100). Patients group was further subjected to A. Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). B. Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Symptom Checklist (Y-BOCS). Results: The negative impact of obsessive/compulsive symptoms on patients’ life in both Egyptian and Saudi patients was highly significant. There was no statistically significant difference between the two studied groups (including patients and control subjects) on any domain of QOL scale (p>0.05). Female patients had higher cleaning, ordering and contamination than male patients. Miscellaneous obsessions and compulsions, contamination and aggression were the most prevalent obsessive/compulsive symptoms in the whole sample. Egyptian patients had generally higher rates of obsessive and compulsive symptoms that was statistically significant only for cleanliness and counting, while Saudi patients had higher sexual, somatic and contamination obsession. Despite the detected negative correlations between QOL scores and those of YBOCS, they did not amount to be of statistical significance (p>0.05). Conclusion: Obsessive compulsive disorder has a negative impact on all domains of quality of life in both Saudi and Egyptian patients. The presentation of the disorder is affected by sociocultural factors that are subject to rapid changes and instability in the current time.