Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients are at risk of developing schizophrenia and other related conditions, acodrding to new research.
Certain studies claim that OCD and schizophrenia do not overlap often. However, documentation exists about higher rates of co-existing illness with the two disorders in patients.
For the study led by Sandra M. Meier of Aarhus University, Denmark, researchers analyzed the data of 3 million people born between 1955 and 2006. The participants were tracked from 1995 through 2012.
Researchers noted that 16,231 people developed schizophrenia and 447 (2.75 percent) of these people were previously diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. According to the study findings, 30,556 people developed a schizophrenia spectrum disorder and 700 (2.29 percent) were already diagnosed with OCD.
According to the research team, findings indicate that obsessive-compulsive disorder considerably increases the risk of developing schizophrenia and related disorders. Moreover, children with OCD were also at risk of developing schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
The findings were published Sept. 3 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
