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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1464353

Between Compulsions and Contagions: Examining the Protective Role of OCD Against COVID-19 in a Large Cohort Study

Provisionally accepted
Chen Avni Chen Avni 1,2*Dana Sinai Dana Sinai 1,3,4Paz Toren Paz Toren 1,2
  • 1 Ramat-Chen Brüll Mental Health Center, Clalit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • 2 Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • 3 Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Reichman University, Herzliya, Tel Aviv District, Israel
  • 4 Geha Mental Health Data Research Center, Petah Tikva, Israel

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a significant body of research has explored the impact of the virus and its preventative measures on mental health among individuals with OCD. However, to our knowledge, no study has been conducted to test whether the very behaviors considered symptomatic of OCD inadvertently offer a protective shield against COVID-19 infection.This retrospective cohort study utilized the electronic health record database of Israel's largest healthcare provider, Clalit Health Services (CHS), to compare patients with and without recorded OCD diagnoses in terms of the number of COVID-19 tests taken, hospitalization duration, vaccination rates, and infection rates during and after different pandemic waves.The OCD group had a slightly higher rate of positive COVID-19 tests compared to the control group (p<0.001), but only since the easing of restrictions after the end of the fifth wave. The OCD group was also more likely to receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (p<0.001).Our findings suggest that OCD may not confer protection against COVID-19 and may even be associated with slightly higher infection rates, particularly in the post-restrictions period.

    Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), COVID-19, Infection rates, Vaccination rates, Psychoeducation

    Received: 13 Jul 2024; Accepted: 28 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Avni, Sinai and Toren. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Chen Avni, Ramat-Chen Brüll Mental Health Center, Clalit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.