The impairment of impulsiveness in patients of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Objective To investigate the difference of impulsiveness between patients of obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD) and healthy controls. Methods Seventy-one patients who met the DSM-IV criteria for OCD, and sixty-five healthy controls were recruited.Impulsiveness and the severity of symptom were assessed with Barratt Impulsivity Scale(BIS-11) and Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale(Y-BOCS) before and the end of 16th week treatment. Results Before treatment, attentional impulsivity scores(14(12, 16)) and non-planning impulsivity scores(26(23, 28)) were significantly higher(all P<0.01) in OCD patients compared with controls (12(11, 13), 23(20.5, 26)). After treament, the reduction rate of attentional impulsivity was positively correlated with the reduction rate of Y-BOCS (r=0.443, P=0.018). Logistic regression analysis reported that with the total scores of BIS-11 increased, the effect of treatment was improved(β=-0.149, P=0.002). Conclusion Increased attentional and non-planning impulsivity are found in OCD.As the improvement of symptom, the scores of attentional impulsivity are also decreased. The high total scores of BIS-11 are correlated with the efficacy of treatment. Key words: Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Impulsivity; Barratt impulsiveness Scale