Changes in Symptoms and Severity of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescent Patients following the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The need to stay at home and follow the rules of personal hygiene for protection are generally stimuli that can increase the anxiety of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) patients during covid-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to examine how this situation has
changed the disorder severity and symptoms in OCD patients. This multi-centre study included 73 OCD patients aged 7-17 years, who had been followed up for at least 8 weeks before the pandemic. The range and severity of symptoms were evaluated with the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CYB-OCS). The disorder severity scores evaluated in the 8th week of treatment were compared with disorder severity scores after the pandemic, and a statistically significant difference was determined (p=0.04). There was seen to be an increase in contamination, ilness and sexual obsessions after the pandemic compared to the 8th week of treatment. The study results showed that pandemic-origin stress had a negative effect on young OCD patients. There should be advance planning of how treatment processes will not be interrupted and how children with mental health problems can be helped in times of stress, such as natural disaster and pandemics, which affect the whole population and therefore, children.