Efficacy of pharmacological treatment in OCD comorbid with tic disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Up to 30% of subjects with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) also have a lifetime tic disorder. Several meta-analyses of pharmaceutical or psychotherapeutic interventions for the management of OCD have been published, but none specifically on patients with OCD comorbid with tics. The literature regarding pharmacological treatments of patients with this condition is mainly focused on studies of OCD. After a search of the Cochrane, EMBASE, PubMed, PsychINFO and Science Direct databases, we performed a proportion meta-analysis of the percentage of patients whose condition improved and a paired meta-analysis of the change in the OCD score (Y-BOCS). Twelve case reports were retained for qualitative analysis and 14 articles for meta-analysis. Case reports showed better efficacy of combined antidepressant-antipsychotic treatment for OCD comorbid with tic disorder. The meta-analysis showed an improvement in 29% [18–42] of patients with antidepressants. Although there was no significant difference with placebo add-on, in antidepressant-resistant OCD patients, adding an antipsychotic to the antidepressant regimen led to an increase in the number of patients who improved (67% [45–86] vs 7% [0–35]) and seemed to show a decrease in the Y-BOCS score (−10.06 [-20.38; 0.26] vs (−3.61 [-9.08; 13.85]). Our study provides new evidence on the pharmacological treatment of OCD comorbid with tics. In some patients, the condition is improved by a first-line antidepressant. In case of non-response or insufficient efficacy of antidepressants, add-on treatment with certain antipsychotics can be implemented.