Memory function in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder and the problem of confidence in their memories: a clinical study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine obsessive-compulsive patients for memory of obsessive-compulsive relevant material and confidence in their memory.


METHODS
Memory function was examined by a recognition task using neutral and obsessive-compulsive relevant sentences in 32 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and 31 control subjects. We also investigated the participants' confidence in the accuracy of their recognition. The severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder was evaluated by using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. The Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Questionnaire, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were also administered to the two groups.


RESULTS
Whereas obsessive-compulsive disorder patients were not significantly different from control subjects on measures of recognition memory for both obsessive-compulsive relevant and neutral material, they were significantly less confident in the memory for obsessive-compulsive relevant and neutral sentences. Also, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores were negatively correlated with the recognition performance of obsessive-compulsive disorder relevant sentences and the levels of confidence in memory in the obsessive-compulsive disorder group. The obsessive-compulsive patients with checking compulsions were not different from non-checking obsessive-compulsive patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that obsessive-compulsive patients experience difficulties in confidence in their memory, possibly related to anxiety rather than primary memory deficits.
Karadag
Filiz
F
Psychiatry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Tip Fakültesi, Psikiyatri AD, 20010-Denizli, Turkey. filizlal@yahoo.com
Oguzhanoglu
Nalan
N
Ozdel
Osman
O
Atesci
Figen C
FC
Amuk
Tarkan
T
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires