OCD linked with higher risk of death from both natural and unnatural causes

People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have an increased risk of death than those who are not affected by it, Swedish research suggests.

An analysis of more than 61,000 people with OCD and ten times as many unaffected people from the general population found an increased risk of death associated with both natural and unnatural causes.

As part of the research, the team also compared patient records from a group of 34,000 people with OCD with almost 48,000 unaffected siblings over an eight-year period where they found similar increased risks to the general population.

Writing in the BMJ, the researchers said previous studies had focused on unnatural causes of death including suicide.

Their research suggested that after taking into account potentially influential factors such as birth year, sex, county, migrant status, education and family income, people with OCD had an 82% increased risk of death from any cause.

The excess risk of death was 31% higher for natural causes and three times higher for unnatural causes of death, they reported.

Among the natural causes of death, people with OCD had increased risks of death due to respiratory system diseases (73%), mental and behavioural disorders (58%), diseases of the genitourinary system (55%), endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases (47%), diseases of the circulatory system (33%), nervous system (21%), and digestive system (20%), the analysis showed. 

For unnatural causes, suicide was by far the biggest factor with an almost five-fold increased risk of death followed by accidents with a 92% increased risk.

Overall, the risk was similar for both men and women with OCD, although women did have a higher risk of dying due to unnatural causes but that could be explained by their lower baseline risk in the general population, the researchers explained.

But people with OCD had a 10% lower risk of death due to tumours, they noted.

‘Non-communicable diseases and external causes of death, including suicides and accidents, were major contributors to the risk of mortality in people with OCD.

‘Better surveillance, prevention, and early intervention strategies should be implemented to reduce the risk of fatal outcomes in people with OCD,’ they concluded.

They added that ‘significant efforts’ should also be made to promote early detection and improve access to specialist treatment for people with OCD.

‘People with psychiatric disorders are known to be less likely to seek help for health related problems and to attend medical check-ups, and they are also less likely to receive health interventions and prescriptions for non-psychiatric drugs, potentially leading to delays in the detection and treatment of diseases,’ they noted.