BMJ

OCD linked to nearly double the risk for all-cause mortality

February 2, 2024

Non-communicable diseases and external causes of death, including suicides and accidents, were major contributors to risk of mortality in people with OCD. Study authors urge surveillance, prevention, and early intervention strategies to reduce the risk of fatal outcomes in people with OCD.

• The study included 61,378 people with OCD and 613,780 unaffected people matched (1:10) on sex, birth year, and county of residence; a sibling cohort consisting of 34,085 people with OCD and 47,874 unaffected full siblings.
• Cohorts were followed up for a median time of 8.1 years during the period from January 1, 1973 to December 31, 2020.
• 787 people with OCD and 30,619 unaffected people died during the study period (crude mortality rate 8.1 and 5.1 per 1,000 person years, respectively).
• In stratified Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for birth year, sex, county, migrant status (born in Sweden versus abroad), and sociodemographic variables (latest recorded education, civil status, and family income), people with OCD had an increased risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.76 to 1.89) and mortality due to natural causes (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.27 to 1.37) and unnatural causes (HR, 3.30, 95% CI, 3.05 to 3.57).
• Among the natural causes of death, those due to endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases, mental and behavioral disorders, and diseases of the nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and genitourinary systems were higher in the OCD cohort.
• Conversely, the risk of death due to neoplasms was lower in the OCD cohort compared with the unaffected cohort.
• Among the unnatural causes, suicide showed the highest hazard ratio, followed by accidents.

Source:

Fernandez de la Cruz L, et al. (2024, January 17). BMJ. All cause and specific mortality in obsessive-compulsive disorder: nationwide matched cohort and sibling cohort study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38233033/