Transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo e sintomas depressivos em adolescentes : o impacto na qualidade de vida

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental illness that causes major suffering and affects quality of life (QoL). Depressive symptoms (DS), in turn, have shown to be highly prevalent in patients with OCD. Notwithstanding, it remains unclear whether QoL impairment is a result of OCD or DS. Likewise, the impact of DS on the QoL of adolescents with OCD has not been sufficiently explored. This dissertation comprises two empirical population-based studies: 1) the first study assessed whether the presence or absence of DS in adolescents with and without OCD was associated with QoL; 2) the second study measured the effect size of DS on the QoL of adolescents with OCD. Results showed that patients with DS, regardless of the presence or absence of OCD, show lower QoL scores in the physical health, psychological, and social relations domains, and also lower total scores; no significant differences were found between the groups in the environment domain. Furthermore, results showed that the combination of DS and OCD presented moderate to high effect sizes (0.66 to 1.97), indicating statically significant QoL impairment in adolescents with DS. These findings allow us to conclude that QoL is poorer when DS are present, regardless of the presence of absence of OCD. Moreover, the co-occurrence of DS in adolescents with OCD results in statistically significant impairment in all QoL domains.