Abstract
Objectives: In the present study, we set out to establish whether executive function in everyday life is impaired in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients, and if it is more impaired (or not) in patients who relapsed after cognitive behavioural therapy than in treatment-naive obsessive-compulsive disorder patients. Method: The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function— Adult Version (BRIEF-A) was used to measure executive function in everyday life in three groups of 19 participants: treatment-naive obsessive-compulsive disorderpatients, obsessive-compulsive disorder patients having relapsed after CBT, and healthy controls. Results: The BRIEF-A results revealed an impairment in executive function in the treatment-naive and relapsed obsessive-compulsive disorder groups, relative to the healthy control group. There was no significant difference in executive function between the two groups of patients. Conclusions: These results show that impaired executive function is not associated with relapse in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder having undergone cognitive behavioural therapy.
Highlights
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a neuropsychiatric illness characterized by persistent, intrusive thoughts generally accompanied by ritualized/repetitive acts or thoughts
In the present study, we set out to establish whether executive function in everyday life is impaired in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients, and if it is more impaired in patients who relapsed after cognitive behavioural therapy than in treatment-naïve obsessive-compulsive disorder patients
Our analyses revealed positive significant correlations between the measures of OCD severity (VOCI and OBQ-44) and Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)-A main scores: the more severe the OCD symptoms, the more the BRIEF-A scores reflected an impairment in Executive function (EF)
Summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a neuropsychiatric illness characterized by persistent, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) generally accompanied by ritualized/repetitive acts or thoughts (compulsions). Neuroimaging studies have highlighted a link between OCD and the brain areas involved in EF—mainly the prefrontal cortex and the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits [6] [7] [8]. These sets of converging evidence have prompted researchers to examine OCD from a neurobiological perspective
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