The story of memory and executive functions in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVE Neuropsychological findings in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are mainly spread around the role of memory and executive functions. However, the outcomes vary across different OCD populations. In addition, the extent to which each of these factors can distinguish patients with OCD (PwOCD) from healthy individuals has been uncertain and of great attention. The present study aimed to discover the above issues. METHOD This was a cross-sectional study of 182 individuals (90 PwOCD and 92 matched healthy controls). After considering inclusion and exclusion criteria, the participants were administered neuropsychological tests including, Wechsler Memory Scale-III (WMS-III), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT). Using compare mean and regression analysis methods, data were analyzed to test the study hypothesis. RESULTS The results demonstrated weaker performance of PwOCD in immediate memory, General memory and working memory as well as response inhibition indexes compared to the control group. Besides, the results showed that General Memory and Reaction Time2 of SCWT indexes could be predictive variables for discriminating PwOCD from the controls. CONCLUSION Findings of this study support the prior assumptions about impaired memory dimensions and response inhibition but not set shifting, among PwOCD. We also present an initial model for the predictive role of these neuropsychological variables in discriminating OCD from healthy individuals and increase diagnostic accuracy.