Free Paper: A Cross sectional study of Accommodation, Emotional burden and Quality of Life in partners of patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic disease that affects social relationships, and occupational and academic performance of patients and their relatives due to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of the disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the emotional burden, quality of life, level of family accommodation in spouses of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. METHODS: Fifty OCD (ICD-10) patients and their spouses were evaluated using the Family Accommodation Scale- Self-Report Questionnaire, Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), WHO Quality of Life BREF scale (caregivers), the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (patients). RESULTS: out of the fifty participants 54% (27) belonged to female gender and remaining 46% (23) belonged to male gender. Majority completed secondary education (36%) and upper lower socioeconomic status (46%). It was found that family members of patients with severe (35-40) Y-BOCS scores have severe Zarit burden scores (32%). Family accommodation score was moderate to severe in majority of the sample 38%. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that OCD leads to high burden on the family and also impairs the QOL of caregivers. Higher burden and poor QOL in the caregivers associated with higher symptom severity and longer duration of treatment of the patients.