Abstract
BackgroundObsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental health condition recognized as one of the most serious causes of disability and impaired quality of life. In the literature, there is no review about sexual dysfunction and satisfaction in OCD. The current paper presents the protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize data (1) comparing the presence of sexual dysfunction between groups with OCD and non-clinical groups, (2) investigating prevalence of each one of the sexual dysfunctions in patients with OCD, (3) comparing risk for sexual dysfunction in OCD groups with the prevalence in control groups, (4) comparing sexual satisfaction between OCD groups and non-clinical groups, and (5) investigating moderators of sexual dysfunction in OCD groups as compared with control groups. Gender, age, marital status, OCD symptom severity and subtypes, comorbid depressive disorders, comorbid anxiety disorders, concurrent psychiatric medications, comorbid general medical disease, and study quality will be investigated as moderators.MethodsThe protocol is reported according to PRISMA-P guidelines. The search will be conducted by independent reviewers during the second week of December 2019 by using electronic databases (Scopus, PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library), by contacting the authors of the included studies to identify further data, by examining the references of the included studies, and by handsearching conference proceedings and theses/doctoral dissertations. The study quality will be independently evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Random-effect meta-analyses will be computed. If there is insufficient data for a specific outcome, only a systematic review will be performed.DiscussionThis review may support clinical practice highlighting the importance of the assessment of sexuality in patients with OCD and suggesting the use of therapeutic strategies dedicated to sexuality in this clinical population with the aim of improving patients’ quality of life. Potential limitations will regard the heterogeneity of the studies in terms of the instruments used to assess sexual dysfunction/satisfaction and of the definitions used to conceptualize sexual dysfunction.Systematic review registrationProspero CRD42019132264
Highlights
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental health condition recognized as one of the most serious causes of disability and impaired quality of life
The current paper presents a study protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize data from primary studies (1) comparing the presence of sexual dysfunction between clinical groups with OCD and nonclinical groups, (2) investigating prevalence of each one of the sexual dysfunctions in patients with OCD, (3) comparing risk for sexual dysfunction in OCD groups with the prevalence in control groups, (4) comparing sexual satisfaction between OCD groups and non-clinical groups, and (5) investigating moderators of sexual dysfunction in OCD groups as compared with control groups
Effect-size indexes related to levels of sexual dysfunction and levels of sexual satisfaction in OCD as compared to controls will be calculated using the following formula proposed by Cohen [82]: d = (MCASE − MCONTROL)/SDCOMBINED, where MCASE and MCONTROL represent the means of the OCD and control groups, respectively, and SDCOMBINED is the combined standard deviation
Summary
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental health condition recognized as one of the most serious causes of disability and impaired quality of life. While obsessions provoke unpleasant emotions including anxiety, disgust, or guilt, compulsions are repetitively performed to cope with the unpleasant feelings evoked by the former, relief is often only temporary [1]. This condition has a 2–3% lifetime prevalence and an equal gender distribution in the general population [2]; age at onset follows a bimodal distribution with one peak arising in childhood or early adolescence and another in late adolescence or early adulthood [3]. As shown by several studies, treatment resistance to first-line treatments is the rule rather than the exception and only about half of patients achieve full remission from OCD symptoms [10, 12,13,14,15]
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