To What Extent do Clinical Practice Guidelines Respond to the Needs and Preferences of Patients Diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?

INTRODUCTION

The number of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) to help in making clinical decisions is increasing. However, there is currently a lack of CPG for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder that take into account the requirements and expectations of the patients.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to determine whether recommendations of the NICE guideline, "Obsessive-compulsive disorder: core interventions in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder" agrees with the needs and preferences of patients diagnosed with OCD in the mental health service.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: Two focal groups were formed with a total of 12 participants. They were asked about the impact of the disorder in their lives, their experiences with the mental health services, their satisfaction with treatments, and about their psychological resources. Preferences and needs were compared with the recommendations of the guidelines, and to facilitate their analysis, they were classified into four topics: information, accessibility, treatments, and therapeutic relationship.

RESULTS

The results showed a high agreement between recommendations and patients preferences, particularly as regards high-intensity psychological interventions. Some discrepancies included the lack of prior low-intensity psychological interventions in mental health service, and the difficulty of rapid access the professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

There is significant concordance between recommendations and patients preferences and demands, which are only partially responded to by the health services.