The relationship between the severity of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD)

Introduction: Given the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD), we investigated the association between the severity of OCD and Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia. Method: This case-control study included patients referred to the dementia clinic of Firoozgar Hospital and the Brain and Cognition Clinic, who had a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) test score less than 26 based on assessments of known Alzheimer's or frontotemporal dementia. The control group also consisted of people who referred to the neurology clinic without complaining of psychiatric disorders. For evaluating the severity of OCD we used the Yale – Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) questionnaire. Results: : This study was performed on 13 patients with Alzheimer's disease, 13 patients with FTD and 26 healthy controls. The MOCA score in the two groups of patients was significantly lower than the control group (P 0.05). The severity of OCD was significantly higher in FTD )25.76±7.16 (and Alzheimer's patients )18.15±9.50( compared to the control group (7.07±5.70) (P <0.001). Also, the severity of OCD was was higher in the FTD group compared to the Alzheimer's group (P = 0.03). Conclusion: Thus, the severity of OCD in the group of FTD and Alzheimer's patients was higher compared to the control group and also the severity of OCD was higher in the FTD group compared to the Alzheimer's group.