Prevalence and clinical correlates of sensory phenomena in obsessive compulsive disorder

Introduction A substantial number of patients suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) report a subjective distressing experience prior to the repetitive behavior, known as sensory phenomena(SP). Objectives Need to systematically evaluate SP and the clinical correlates in OCD. Aims Assess prevalence of SP and clinical correlates in OCD. Methods Subjects ( n  = 71) fulfilling the criteria for DSM IV-TR OCD were recruited consecutively from a specialty OCD clinic in Southern India and were assessed using the Yale brown obsessive and compulsive scale (YBOCS), dimensional Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale (D-YBOCS) and the University of Sao Paulo Sensory Phenomena Scale (USP-SPS). Results The prevalence of the SP was found to be 50.7%. Prevalence of SP is significantly greater in the patients with early age of onset ( P  = 0.47). In subtypes of SP, Tactile was 12.7%, “just right” for look was 26.8%, “just right” for sound was 9.9%, “just right” for feeling was 16.9%, feeling of incompleteness leading to repetitive behavior was 22.5%, “energy release” sensation leading to repetitive behavior was 4.2% and “urge only” leading to repetitive behavior was 11.3%. SP was found to have significant correlation with symmetry/ordering/arranging/counting dimension ( P  = 0.003). Significant positive correlation existed between SP severity and the severity of the compulsions ( P  = 0.02). Conclusion Considering its high prevalence in OCD, it might be useful to incorporate SP assessment during the routine clinical assessment of OCD. It might warrant a place in the phenomenological and nosological description of OCD. Additionally, the neurobiological correlates of SP need to be explored.