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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by Phillipa on October 16, 2009, at 20:23:16
I never knew there were so many subtypes of ocd. Phillipa
Best Practices for Treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Primary Care Setting CME
News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd
CME Information
Target Audience
This article is intended for primary care clinicians, psychiatrists, and other specialists who care for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.Goal
The goal of this activity is to provide medical news to primary care clinicians and other healthcare professionals in order to enhance patient care.Authors and Disclosures
Laurie Barclay, MD
freelance writer and reviewer, MedscapeCME
Disclosure: Laurie Barclay, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.Brande Nicole Martin
is the News CME editor for Medscape Medical News.
Disclosure: Brande Nicole Martin has disclosed no relevant financial information.Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd
Clinical Professor, Family Medicine, University of California, Orange; Director, Division of Faculty Development, UCI Medical Center, Orange, California
Disclosure: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:Describe the presentation, prevalence, natural history, and diagnostic criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Identify treatment options for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Credits Available
Physicians - maximum of 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)Family Physicians - maximum of 0.25 AAFP Prescribed credit(s)
All other healthcare professionals completing continuing education credit for this activity will be issued a certificate of participation.
Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Accreditation Statements
For Physicians
MedscapeCME is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Hardware/Software Requirements
MedscapeCME is accessible using the following browsers: Internet Explorer 6.x or higher, Firefox 2.x or higher, Safari 2.x or higher. Certain educational activities may require additional software to view multimedia, presentation or printable versions of their content. These activities will be marked as such and will provide links to the required software. That software may be: Macromedia Flash, Adobe Acrobat, or Microsoft Powerpoint.
August 24, 2009 Recommendations for diagnosing and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in the primary care setting are reviewed in the August 1 issue of American Family Physician."...OCD is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by recurrent distressing thoughts and repetitive behaviors or mental rituals performed to reduce anxiety," write Jill N. Fenske, MD, and Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.
"Symptoms are often accompanied by feelings of shame and secrecy because patients realize the thoughts and behaviors are excessive or unreasonable. This secrecy, along with a lack of recognition of OCD symptoms by health care professionals, often leads to a long delay in diagnosis and treatment. OCD has a reputation of being difficult to treat, but there are many effective treatments available."
Despite the considerable distress and disability accompanying OCD, it is often unrecognized and undertreated. Primary care physicians should be able to recognize various presentations of OCD as well as clues regarding the presence of obsessions or compulsions. Children with OCD and adults who are refractory to treatment should be referred to a specialist.
Subtypes of OCD
Various subtypes of OCD, and their typical presenting features, are as follows:
Early-onset OCD: This subtype typically manifests symptoms before puberty, with higher frequency of tics and other psychiatric comorbidities vs the other OCD subtypes. Compulsions, which are often severe and frequent, usually are evident before obsessions develop. Early-onset OCD is less responsive to first-line therapy than the other subtypes, and there is a strong familial predisposition, with incidence of 17% among first-degree relatives.
Hoarding OCD: Patients with this subtype usually have less insight vs other OCD subtypes and may be less responsive to psychological therapy. Symptoms are often more severe, with a greater degree of global impairment, and rates of psychiatric comorbidities are higher, especially for social phobia.
"Just right" OCD: In this subtype, the primary manifestation is a desire for circumstances or things to be "perfect," "certain," or "under control," resulting in a need to repeat certain actions to alleviate the uncomfortable feeling.
Primary obsessional OCD: This subtype occurs in one quarter of patients, with common themes including sex, violence, and religion. Although overt compulsions are absent, patients are not free from rituals, which may be mental, such as praying, counting, or reciting "good words." Although this subtype has been considered to be less responsive to treatment, patients do respond to medication and exposure and response prevention.
Scrupulosity OCD: This subtype, which is characterized by religious or moral obsessions, can be devastating for patients in whom faith or religious affiliation is important. The obsessions may involve blasphemous thoughts or focus on whether the patient has committed a sin, and the accompanying compulsions may include prayer, seeking reassurance from clergy, or excessive confession.
Tic-related OCD: This subtype overlaps significantly with early-onset OCD, and many patients meet criteria for Tourette's syndrome. Comorbid conditions often occur, such as, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania, social anxiety, and/or mood disorders. Hoarding and somatic obsessions typically occur. This subtype often requires combination treatment including a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and an atypical antipsychotic.
Initial OCD Treatment StepsImportant initial steps in facilitating recovery include correct diagnosis and educating the patient concerning the nature of OCD. Treatment is indicated when OCD symptoms cause impaired function or significant distress for the patient. Although treatment rarely cures the patient with OCD, significant symptomatic relief is achievable. Reasonable goals for treatment would be to spend less than 1 hour per day on obsessive-compulsive behaviors, causing minimal interference with daily activities.
First-line therapy should consist of cognitive behavioral therapy with exposure and response prevention, or pharmacotherapy with an SSRI, such as citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, or sertraline. Physicians should be aware that medication dosages required in OCD often exceed those needed for other indications, and there is also usually a longer duration of treatment needed before response becomes apparent.
For patients with OCD who are resistant to treatment, feasible options for therapy may include augmentation of an SSRI with an atypical antipsychotic. Because OCD is a chronic condition with a high rate of relapse, treatment should be discontinued only with caution. Patients with OCD should be carefully monitored to detect possible comorbid depression and suicidal ideation.
OCD Clinical Recommendations
Specific key clinical recommendations for practice, and their accompanying level of evidence rating, are as follows:
Cognitive behavioral therapy including exposure and response prevention is an effective modality for OCD treatment (level of evidence, A).
Recommended first-line pharmacotherapy for OCD is SSRIs, which have been shown to be effective (level of evidence, A).
In some patients with treatment-resistant OCD, augmentation of SSRI therapy with atypical antipsychotic agents is effective (level of evidence, B).
Optimal duration for a trial of SSRI treatment is 8 to 12 weeks, with at least 4 to 6 weeks at the maximal tolerable dosage (level of evidence, C).
Before attempting discontinuation of SSRIs, patients should take these drugs for at least 1 to 2 years. To help prevent relapse when SSRIs are discontinued, the treating physician should consider exposure and response prevention "booster" sessions (level of evidence, C).
Patients with OCD should be monitored for psychiatric comorbidities and suicide risk (level of evidence, C).
"Patients with treatment-resistant OCD should be referred to a subspecialist," the study authors conclude. "There are a variety of treatment options for these patients, but the evidence for most therapies is based on small preliminary studies or expert opinion. Partial hospitalization and residential treatment facilities are options for patients with severe, treatment-resistant OCD."The review authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Am Fam Physician. 2009;80:239-245
Posted by delna on October 17, 2009, at 14:20:12
In reply to Treatment For OCD in Primary Setting, posted by Phillipa on October 16, 2009, at 20:23:16
Oh wow!
Thank you for posting this. I will take a copy.
Love
DPS: Hope you are good..
Posted by Phillipa on October 17, 2009, at 22:10:14
In reply to Re: Treatment For OCD in Primary Setting » Phillipa, posted by delna on October 17, 2009, at 14:20:12
Delna your're welcome seems a lot are having trouble with OCD timely newsletter. Love Phillipa
Posted by delna on October 18, 2009, at 1:03:11
In reply to Re: Treatment For OCD in Primary Setting » delna, posted by Phillipa on October 17, 2009, at 22:10:14
Posted by CareBear04 on October 18, 2009, at 22:41:26
In reply to Treatment For OCD in Primary Setting, posted by Phillipa on October 16, 2009, at 20:23:16
thanks, phillipa--very helpful! my ocd-type problems have been getting increasingly worse. i don't even know what to call it/them anymore. i've never been told officially that i have ocd; maybe, as the article states, it has been overlooked, even though i've seen tons of specialists, including at the top institutions. it used to be primarily obsessiveness with some seemingly unrelated compulsions (e.g. counting, straightening, avoiding certain numbers, etc.). but now the compulsiveness is wasting more time. in any case, it's a little disheartening to read that ocd is not as treatable as other conditions. i knew that it requires higher doses, but more time? months? years? i need something NOW!
so frustrating...
but thanks for the info,
cb
Posted by Phillipa on October 18, 2009, at 22:56:46
In reply to Re: Treatment For OCD in Primary Setting » Phillipa, posted by CareBear04 on October 18, 2009, at 22:41:26
You're welcome. Phillipa
Posted by delna on October 19, 2009, at 2:00:27
In reply to Re: Treatment For OCD in Primary Setting » Phillipa, posted by CareBear04 on October 18, 2009, at 22:41:26
Hi,
Yes, it is really hard to treat but that is for really resistant cases. Many, many people have complete remission with SSRI's or SNRI's.
also there are some augmentation strategies....Here's a treatment algorithm for OCD....many options http://www.psychiatryonline.com/popup.aspx?aID=149623
TC
D
Posted by softheprairie on October 20, 2009, at 22:35:12
In reply to Re: Treatment For OCD in Primary Setting » CareBear04, posted by delna on October 19, 2009, at 2:00:27
Thanks, Delna. That's an interesting and up-to-date algorithm, and by a most credible source.
This is the end of the thread.
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