Elsevier

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 61, Issue 8, 15 April 2007, Pages 946-951
Biological Psychiatry

Original article
Neuropsychological Performance in Children and Adolescents with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Influence of Clinical Variables

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.07.027Get rights and content

Background

Several studies have found impairment in visual memory and visual organization in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but little is known about the neuropsychological profile of children and adolescents with this disorder. The influence of clinical variables such as age, severity of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology, depressive symptomatology, and pharmacological treatment on cognitive performance in these patients has not been thoroughly studied.

Methods

A neuropsychological battery designed for this study was administered to 35 patients with DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of OCD without psychiatric comorbidity aged between 7 and 18 years and 35 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects.

Results

Children and adolescents with OCD performed significantly worse on verbal and visual memory and velocity. When depressive symptomatology was controlled, impairment in visual memory, visual organization, and velocity again was found, but impairment in verbal memory was not. Neuropsychological impairment was not related to age, obsessive-compulsive severity, and pharmacological treatment.

Conclusions

Children and adolescents with OCD without psychiatric comorbidity with acute illness show impairment in visual memory, visual organization, and velocity, similar to adults. The influence of depressive symptomatology is important in cognitive performance. No relation was found between neuropsychology and age, severity of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology, or pharmacological treatment in this study.

Section snippets

Subjects

Subjects were patients who met the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for OCD and were treated at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona between February 2002 and February 2005. In this period, 59 children and adolescents were assessed and diagnosed with OCD in our service. Exclusion criteria were comorbidity with any other psychiatric disorder, mental retardation, history of neurological impairment, or slight OC symptomatology.

General Characteristics

Each group included 17 (49%) girls and 18 (51%) boys, with a mean age of 13 years and 8 months (OCD group: mean, 13.84; SD, 2.78 and control group: mean, 13.81; SD, 2.74; t = .046, p < .963).

Subjects with OCD scored significantly higher on the CDI than controls, though the mean score was below the cutoff point (19) for moderate depression (OCD: mean, 13.33; SD, 7.43; control group: mean, 6.92, SD, 2.78; t = 5.250, p < .000). In the OCD group, CY-BOCS total mean was 27.66 (SD, 5.34), with

Discussion

The present study shows that, like adults, children and adolescents with OCD without psychiatric comorbidity during acute illness show impairment in neuropsychological functions such as visual memory, velocity, and visual organization. Depressive symptomatology was a confounding variable in neuropsychological performance, altering verbal memory and visual organization. Age, severity of OCD symptomatology, pharmacological treatment, or time since onset of disorder were not related to

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