Effect of group cognitive behavioral therapy on cognitive function of patients with obsessive- compulsive disorder

Abstract

Objective To explore the effect of group cognitive behavior therapy (GCBT) on symptom relief and cognitive function improvement of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods Fourty-eight OCD patients who met the DSM-Ⅳ-TR diagnostic criteria were introduced into this study, and they were divided into GCBT combination therapy group (n=24) and drug therapy group (n=24). The GCBT combination therapy group was treated with 8 times of cognitive behavior therapy on the basis of drug therapy, and the drug therapy group was treated only with drug therapy. The Y-BOCS was used to evaluate the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive before and after the therapy. Neuropsychological tests (including Trail Making Test (TMT), Digit-Symbol Test (DST), Digit Span Test (DST), Category Fluency Test (CFT)) were used to evaluate the cognitive function before and after the treatment. Results Before the treatment, there was no significant difference between GCBT combination therapy group and drug therapy group on Y-BOCS and neuropsychological test results. After the treatment, the Y-BOCS score of GCBT combination therapy group was significantly lower than that of the drug therapy group (18.7±3.1 vs. 20.7±1.8; t=-2.75, P<0.05). Meanwhile, there were significant differences between the GCBT combination therapy group and drug therapy group in the TMT (B time), Digit-Symbol Test, DST (Forward Digit Span), DST (Backward Digit Span), CFT(the correct number; t=-2.93, 3.47, 2.06, 2.54, 7.22; P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion GCBT show significant effect on relieving the severity of obsessive compulsive symptoms and improving the cognitive function of OCD patients. Key words: Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Cognition; Group cognitive behavior therapy