How Does the Normalization Process After the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? A Longitudinal Study

Gökçen O., AKKUŞ M.

Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, vol.213, no.2, pp.50-57, 2025 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 213 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1097/nmd.0000000000001821
  • Journal Name: Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Abstracts in Social Gerontology, ATLA Religion Database, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, CINAHL, Educational research abstracts (ERA), MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Violence & Abuse Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.50-57
  • Keywords: COVID-19, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), pandemic
  • Kütahya Health Sciences University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effect of the normalization process after the pandemic on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. During the pandemic period, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), Padua Inventory–Washington State University Revision, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), and an interview form inquiring sociodemographic characteristics were applied to the participant patients with OCD. During the normalization process, the patients were reevaluated after about 1 year. A significant decrease was found in the patients' FCV-19S and PE-WSUR total scores along with all sub-scale scores as well as the Y-BOCS scores. The FCV-19S was associated with OCD symptoms both during the pandemic and the normalization period. The final FCV-19S scores of patients with a Y-BOCS score of 12 and under were found to be statistically significantly lower than the others. This study shows that OCD symptom severity and fear of COVID-19 decreased with the normalization process. A decrease in pandemic-related stress and fear of COVID-19 with the normalization process may have positively affected OCD patients.