OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is obsessive-compulsive disorder. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how obsessive-compulsive disorder will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a tradition question bank (as all of the answers will be the same), however seeing the classic “test” characterization for a disease is quite valuable.
QUESTION EXAMPLES
Question # 1
A 20 year old college student who is struggling with her classes comes to the university clinic. She is being assessed by her counselor, and is referred to the clinic’s physician due to her anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue. For the past year she has been worried all the time about whether her door is locked or her stove is turned off. Because of these concerns, she check the door and stove multiple times during the day and at night. Although she knows she locked the door and turned off the stove, she is not able to stop thinking about these tasks until she checks over and over again. The patient knows that her fears “don’t make any sense” however she is powerless to stop them. She is also worried that she is spending too much time on these thoughts, and is not able to have time to complete her assignments on time. She spends a great deal of time checking her work over and over again. Her medications only include a daily oral contraceptive. She has no significant pas medical/psychiatric history. The patient does not use any alcohol or illicit substances. She denies feelings of depression or feeling hopeless. Her vitals are stable, and her physical exam does not reveal any notable findings. What is the most likely diagnosis for this patient?
Question # 2
A 23 year old man comes to the clinic because of a 2 year history of distressing thoughts. He explains that he can not control thoughts of hurting others, and he counts objects to stop these thoughts from happening. His thoughts have been getting more frequent for the past 3 months, and he can no longer concentrate on work or sleep at night. Physical exam is unremarkable. Mental status exam reveals that he has violent sexual thoughts that he can not control. He is oriented and his memory is preserved. He explains that he is embarrassed about discussion these thoughts and wishes that he did not have them. What is the most likely explanation for this patient’s presentation?
Question # 3
A 34 year old man comes to the clinic because of increased concerns regarding his procrastination and indecision. He explains that he often will be late for work because he is easily distracted by other tasks. This has led to him getting poor job performance ratings. He arrived late for todays appointment with the physical because he was up all night working on a new organizational system for the clothes in his closet. he says eh becomes nervous if he can not finish these types of small projects as the thoughts “pop into his head”. He sometimes daydreams about these projects, and must complete them before he moves on to doing something else. He admits that his family is frustrated by his behavior. He has no history of medical illness, and does not take any medications. He appears tired in the exam room. Physical exam is unremarkable. His mental status exam reveals a fidgety patient who has poor eye contact. He gives four different interpretations of a proverb, and cannot decide on what is the best answer. What is the most likely diagnosis for this patient?
Question # 4
A 26 year old man comes to the physician with his girl friend because of his odd behavior for the past 4 months. She explains that he will only travel to work by taking certain routes, and is overly concerned about the cleanliness of their apartment. He will spend hours inspecting for dust on the furniture and closing windows when he returns from work (to prevent further dust buildup in their home). He organizes his items in a very particular way, and becomes very upset when anything is re-arragned. He realizes that his life style is unreasonable, but explains that he gets very nervous if things are not done exactly this way. He sleeps normally. His physical exam is unremarkable. Mental status exam reveals that he his mildly anxious and depressed “every day”. Results of lab studies are within normal limits. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Question # 5
A 20-year-old woman comes to the clinic because whe can’t leave the house without checking the oven, furnace, and teapot 45 times in a specific order. She notes that while she despises doing “this ritual), if she neglects to do it, she feels overwhelmingly anxious. It sometimes takes her 4 hours to leave the house in the morning because of this. What is the likely diagnosis for this patient?
Page Updated: 09.20.2016