Polysomnographic changes of obsessive-compulsive disorder: evidence from case-control studies

To explore the polysomnographic differences between patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and healthy controls.

An electronic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, All EBM databases, Web of Science, and CNKI from inception to Sep 2023.

Pooled analyses revealed significant reductions in sleep efficiency, total sleep time, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency, and increases in awakening time, REM density and REM intensity in patients with OCD compared with healthy controls. Meta-regression analyses reveal no significant influence of OCD severity and disease duration on polysomnographic changes of patients with OCD.

Significant polysomnographic changes are present in OCD. Our findings underscore the need for a comprehensive PSG assessment of sleep changes in patients with OCD.