Effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Interventions on Symptom Reduction According to Y-BOCS and OCI-R in Adult Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most debilitating and costly mental health disorders. Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) may decrease rumination and experiential avoidance, and improve meta-cognitive skills, and therefore, they could constitute a therapeutic option for this disorder. The aim of this systematic review was to sum up the current evidence from randomized control studies that examined the effectiveness of MBIs in the treatment of OCD. The Web of Science, PubMed and EMBASE databases were meticulously searched from commencement to May 2020. The primary outcome measure was symptom severity, which was assessed with Y-BOCS. Secondary outcomes were assessed with the BDI, OBQ-R, FFMQ, and quality of life scores. The initial search retrieved 1071 studies, of which only five randomized controlled trials met the selection criteria. Three out of five studies did not demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in OCD symptoms’ severity according to Y-BOCS. With regards to secondary outcomes, studies reported an improvement in mindfulness, an amelioration of life quality and a reduction of obsessive beliefs, depressive symptoms and anxiety. Though most studies implementing MBIs did not show a significant improvement of OCD symptom severity, the review highlighted contradictive and inconclusive findings due to a limited number of research studies on each specific MBI, heterogeneity of the studies’ populations and lack of RCTs of large numbers of participants.