Personality traits and smoking in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

As opposed to other psychiatric populations, subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) smoke less than the general population. The present study aims at further investigating the relationship between smoking in OCD subjects and personality traits. Sixty-four subjects with OCD were interviewed concerning their smoking habits. Personality traits were evaluated using the Karolinska Scales of Personality, and specific obsessive-compulsive personality traits were elicited through self-report questionnaires. Non-smokers were more easily fatigued, more inclined to worry, more remorseful, less self-confident, less impulsive and became uneasy more frequently when urged to speed up, than smokers with OCD. Additionally, non-smokers fulfilled significantly more obsessive-compulsive personality disorder criteria as compared to the smokers (P < 0.001). We propose a clinical subtype of OCD related to non-smoking, psychasthenia, anxiety, and pronounced obsessive-compulsive personality disorder traits. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.