• Yaşar Tanir, Ali Karayagmurlu, İlyas Kaya, Tuba Bilbay Kaynar, Gaye Türkmen, Büşra Nur Dambasan, Yavuz Meral, and Murat Coşkun.
• Istanbul University, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, 34116 İstanbul, Turkiye. Electronic address: yasar.tanir@istanbul.edu.tr.
• Psychiatry Res. 2020 Nov 1; 293: 113363.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of COVID-19 pandemic and related home confinement on symptom profile, symptom severity and exacerbation of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms and related factors among young subjects with OCD.MethodYoung subjects who have been followed up with a primary diagnosis of OCD in a university hospital were reached by telephone or online programs to assess symptom profile, symptom severity and exacerbation during pandemic. Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive (CY-BOCS) and Clinical Global Impression- Severity (CGI-S) Scales were used to rate symptom profile and severity before pandemic and during pandemic periods.ResultsThere was a significant increase in the frequency of contamination obsessions (p=0.008) and cleaning/washing compulsions (p=0.039) during pandemic period. CY-BOCS obsessions (p<0.001), compulsions subscales (p<0.001) and total scores (p<0.001), and CGI-S scores (p<0.001) during pandemic period were statistically higher than before pandemic period. There was a significant relationship between the change in CY-BOCS scores with talking/searching in the social environment about COVID-19, daily preoccupation about COVID-19, duration of OCD diagnosis and diagnosis of COVID-19 in someone familiar.ConclusionsYoung subjects with OCD may develop additional symptoms and worsen already existing symptoms of OCD during COVID-19 pandemic.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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