title: Obsessive-compulsive symptoms among patients with blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence and the severity of different obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms reported by patients with blepharospasm (BSP) with those reported by patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS). We hypothesized that, since patients with BSP present a dysfunctional striato-thalamo-cortical circuitry, they would exhibit higher prevalence and/or greater severity of OCD symptoms than patients with HFS, a condition that results from peripheral irritation of the facial nerve.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two patients with BSP and 31 patients with HFS were systematically evaluated by means of a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Diagnostic groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables and the Pearson's goodness-of-fit χ(2) test for categorical ones; Fisher's Exact Test was employed when indicated. Correlations between continuous variables were evaluated by means of Spearman coefficients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with BSP and HFS were not significantly different in terms of sociodemographic characteristics and most neuropsychiatric features. Nevertheless, while checking was associated with shorter duration of BSP (Spearman's rho=-0.54; P=.01), hoarding correlated with a longer duration of HFS (Spearman's rho=0.40; P=.04). Length of abnormal movements did not correlate with the BDI, BAI and MMSE scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The finding that the severity of different OCD symptoms did not differ between the BSP and HFS groups suggests that BSP may not interfere significantly with behavioral components of the striato-thalamo-cortical circuitry. However, the fact that OCD symptoms were found to follow different courses in distinct diagnostic groups deserves further study.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Ansiedade e Depressão, Instituto de Psiquiatria da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (IPUB/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. lfontenelle@gmail.com
authors.forename: Leonardo F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Fontenelle
authors.forename: Paula G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.forename: Paula M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.forename: Andrea R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: de Freitas
authors.forename: Ana L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rosso
authors.forename: Antônio L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Edward C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Lauterbach
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001764:Blepharospasm / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D019569:Hemifacial Spasm / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index