Importantly, the all-cause mortality risk among persons with OCD in our study lies within the range reported for mental disorders in a recent meta-analysis.37 Mortality rates among persons with OCD seemed to be lower than among persons with psychoses37–39 or substance use disorders,40,41 but the MRRs were of the same magnitude as those observed among persons with mood and anxiety disorders37,42,43 or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,44 which indicates that a general psychopathological factor may be underlying the increased mortality risk of mental disorders. The present findings, therefore, make an important contribution to the literature by showing that the mortality risk of OCD is highly comparable to that of more commonly examined mental disorders, which marks the need for more prevention and medical care for persons with OCD.
