Clinical Neuropsychiatry (2014) 11, 6, 182-186 Predictors of sleeP disturbances in treatment-seeking ocd-Patients

Objective: sleep disturbances are frequently undiagnosed in patients with mental disorders. the aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of sleep disturbances in a sample of treatment-seeking patients with obsessivecompulsive disorder (ocd). Method: a total of 123 patients were screened, of whom 63 met diagnostic criteria for ocd and were further assessed with measures of sleep disturbances, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depressive symptoms and metacognitive beliefs. Results: the results showed that the sample was characterized by a high proportion of sleep problems, with 65 % of the patients having a PSQI global index indicative of insomnia. Sleep disturbances were significantly higher than in the normal population. a stepwise linear regression analysis showed that severity of compulsions explained the highest proportion of the variance in sleep disturbances, followed by depressive symptoms and negative metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability of thoughts and danger. Conclusions: The data suggest impaired sleep to be influenced by OCD-symptoms and possible clinical implications