Long-term follow-up of 85 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

In this study, long-term outcome for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder treated with serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications was examined. The records of 85 patients who had first been evaluated at least 1 year previously (the mean follow-up period was 773 days) were reviewed. Information was collected on age at onset of symptoms, time since first evaluation, and scores on several scales measuring symptom severity, including the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. Comparison of these baseline data with Yale-Brown scale scores at the most recent follow-up visit showed that 74 (87%) of the patients had responded to treatment. No predictors of improvement were found.