Comparing the Severity of ObsessiveCompulsive Symptoms in Prepregnancy, Pregnancy, and Postpartum Period among Women of reproductive age

Background aim: ObsessiveCompulsive disorder is considered as one of the most common disorders in pregnancy and postpartum period. There are few studies in this regard in Iran. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to compare the severity of obsessivecompulsive symptoms in prepregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum period among women of reproductive age. Methods: This descriptivecomparative study was carried out on 900 eligible women (500 nonpregnant women, 200 pregnant women, and 200 in postpartum period) referred to health centers in Mashhad in 2011, who were selected using multistage sampling method. The data were collected by Madezly and Yale Brown ObsessiveCompulsive scale and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Kruskal–Wallis oneway analysis of variance, and MannWhitney U test in SPSS software (version 11) with the confidence level of 95%. Results: The obtained results of KruskalWallis test showed that there was significant statistical difference between the groups of premarriage (15.9±7.1), pregnancy (20.6±4.5), and postpartum period (20.9±5.1) in terms of mean score of obsessivecompulsive symptoms (P=0.007). Conclusion: Women in their pregnancy and postpartum period are at risk of obsessivecompulsive disorder that mostly are not recognized. As a Consequence, it is necessary for healthcare centers to take required measures in this regard.