PARIPEX - INDIAN JOURNAL OF RESEARCH | Volume - 10 | Issue - 07 |July - 2021 | PRINT ISSN No. 2250 - 1991 | DOI : 10.

36106/paripex

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER Health Science

CORRELATION BETWEEN OBSESSIVE
COMPULSIVE SYMPTOMS & MINDFULNESS KEY WORDS: Mindfulness,
Obsessive Compulsive disorder
AMONG UNDERGRADUATE OCCUPATIONAL ,Occupational Therapy
THERAPY STUDENTS (UG OT ).

Dr. Rakesh. B.
Asst.Prof , MOTh ( Mental Health Sciences ) *Corresponding Author
Shitole*
Dr. Hiral Thakkar Occupational Therapist (B.O.Th).
Background- Increased responsibility and high demands of studying at medical school can also be associate with
Obsessive Compulsive symptoms in general so they need to be mindful all the time to grasp knowledge and handle
responsibility so that this study was to correlate and analyse mindfulness among OT UG along with their OCD symptoms.
ABSTRACT

Aim - To study the correlation between obsessive compulsive symptoms & mindfulness among OT UG.
Objectives - Measure the Obsessive-Compulsive symptoms & Mindfulness attention awareness among OT UG.
Study Design- A cross sectional study design.
Methods- Written consent from participants was taken. Paper-based version of the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory
(OCI) scale and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale(MAAS) were used to assess Obsessive-Compulsive symptoms &
Mindfulness among OT UG Occupational therapy students (I to IV year) from School of occupational therapy.
Result – Occupational therapy UG students
Conclusion – Decrease in Obsessive Compulsive symptoms is leading to increase in mindfulness.
INTRODUCTION: OBJECTIVES:
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health M e a s u re t h e O b s e s s ive - C o m p u l s ive s y m p t o m s &
disorder that affects people of all ages and walks of life, and Mindfulness attention awareness among OT UG.
occurs when a person gets caught in a cycle of obsession and
compulsion1. Obsession: Obsessions are thoughts, images or METHODOLOGY:
impulses that occur over and over again and feel outside of Occupational Therapy students from the Occupational
the person's control. Individuals with OCD do not want to have Therapy Department of a medical college and hospital
these thoughts and find them disturbing. Obsessions are participated in the study .They were explained the purpose
typically accompanied by intense and uncomfortable and nature of the study. A consent letter was taken from them
feelings such as fear, disgust, doubt, or a feeling that things in the language best understood by them. Any queries
have to be done in a way that is “just right.” Common regarding the study were explained. The study was
obsession in OCD: Contamination, losing control, harm, conducted adhering to the principles of 'Declaration of
unwanted sexual thoughts, religious obsession, obsession Helsinki'. There were total 139 participants out of 180
related to perfectionism1, etc. undergraduate Occupational Therapy students (1st to 4th year)
included in the study. The participants ranged in age from 19
Compulsions are the second part of obsessive-compulsive to 23 years Paper-based version of the Obsessive
disorder. These are repetitive behaviours or thoughts that a Compulsive Inventory scale (OCI) and Mindful Attention
person uses with the intention of neutralizing, counteracting, Awareness Scale(MAAS) were used. The questionnaires were
or making their obsessions go away. People with OCD realize distributed among the Occupational Therapy students, They
this is only a temporary solution but without a better way to were explained the study objectives
cope they rely on the compulsion as a temporary escape.
Common compulsion in OCD: Washing and cleaning, mental Obsessive Compulsive Inventory
compulsion, checking, repeating1. OCI-R is a 18-item self-rating scale that is designed to assess
the severity and type of symptoms of those potentially
Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-bymoment dealing with OCD. It is rated on a 5-point scale (“not at all” to
awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and “extremely”) which evaluates symptoms of OCD. Scores
surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens. below 21 are generally not indicative of OCD symptoms.
Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay
attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them— Mindful Attention Awareness Scale
without believing, for instance, that there's a 'right' or 'wrong' The MAAS is a 15-item scale designed to assess a core
way to think or feel in a given moment2 characteristic of dispositional mindfulness, namely, open or
receptive awareness of and attention to what is taking place in
In OCD, patients and students try to supress thoughts which the present in the present. It is rated on a 6-point scale
could paradoxically lead to more intrusions. According to (“Almost always” to “Almost never”. To score the scale, simply
study conducted by Albina on medical students they found compute a mean of the 15 items. Higher scores reflect higher
OCD is more frequent in medical students and increased level of dispositional mindfulness.
responsibility and high demands of studying at medical
school can also be associate with anxiety symptoms in Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (OCI) and Mindfulness
general and OCS in particular so they need to be mindful all Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) were assessed, along with
the time to grasp knowledge and handle responsibility7. Gender and year wise percentage among Undergraduate
Hence need of the study was to correlate and analyse Occupational Therapy Students, All the testing were done
mindfulness among Occupational T herapy(OT) using Pearson's correlation test. Thus, the criteria for rejecting
Undergraduate(UG) along with their Obsessive compulsive the null hypothesis was a 'P' value of <0.05.
symptoms.
RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS:
AIM: Graph 1.0 shows the mean scores of OCI & MAAS in male and
To study the correlation between obsessive compulsive female OT UG students. OCI score for male is 29.45 and
symptoms & mindfulness among OT UG. female is 24.25 MAAS score for male is 4.31 and female is 4.23
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PARIPEX - INDIAN JOURNAL OF RESEARCH | Volume - 10 | Issue - 07 |July - 2021 | PRINT ISSN No. 2250 - 1991 | DOI : 10.36106/paripex
terminology, students also have stress of exam, notes
preparation, research work and stress generated due to vast
syllables may lead to development of obsessive compulsive
symptoms of cleaning, washing, obsession for studying but
students demonstrated average mindful on MAAS as there is a
two way communication between students and professors,
the staff here is supportive and approachable as they help in
the best way possible by solving the doubts when needed, by
solving the queries and by providing proper guidance there
is also a provision of individual counselling and closer
attention on students , easy access to information on any topic
and subject, students are now exposed to various sources of
technology as lectures are conducted through audio-visual
presentations though having obsessive compulsive
symptoms students here feel more calm, less irritated and
stress free . While 1-year students do not have to attend
clinicals daily, they only attend once a week and hence
obsessive-compulsive symptoms are not as compared to
second- and third-year students. 4-year students have low
obsessive-compulsive symptoms as compared to all other
years as they are now used to attending clinicals daily and
adapting to vast syllables. This is supported by study of Faiz
Mosaid Alroqee on Obsessive -compulsive disorder in
medical students: Prevalence, Symptom severity, and
correlates. They discussed that the stress generated by being
a medical student has led to development of obsessive-
compulsive symptoms10. This is supported by another study of
Marijke Hanstede and Yori Gidron on the effects of
mindfulness intervention on obsessive compulsive symptoms
in a non-clinical student population they concluded
mindfulness reduces obsessive compulsive symptoms by
increasing letting go capacity4. The study of Susan Kaiser
Greenland, Simon and Schuster on the mindful child: How to
Graph 2 shows year wise mean of OCI & MAAS in OT UG help your kid manage stress and become happier, kinder, and
students. 2nd year and 3rd year students shows high OCI more compassionate they concluded that paying closer
scores i.e., 26 compared to 1st& 4th year 4th year students attention leads to increase in mindful awareness11.
shows minimum score on OCI (i.e., 23.1). OT UG students
shows MAAS score between 4.07 to 4.502. 3rd year students Graph 1.0 shows the mean scores of OCI & MAAS in male and
showed high score on MAAS indicates that students of 3 year female OT UG students. OCI score for male is more than
are mindful. female, MAAS score for male is more than female. This may be
because of in occupational therapy department there are a
Table 1 Correlations between OCI & MAAS greater number of girls than boys hence adapting to a
Correlations classroom having more female classmates will create
OCI MAAS difficulty for male students to make friends leading to OCD
OCI Pearson Correlation 1 -.432** dimensions of hoarding and adapting difficulties but also,
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 they demonstrate average mindful than females. This is
N 139 139 supported by study of Maria Alice de Mathis on gender
MAAS Pearson Correlation -.432** 1 differences in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a literature
review. In this study they have mentioned males usually report
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
early onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and the result
N 139 139
shows earlier onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
among male patients, compared to females. Approximately
Table-1 shows total N=139 OT UG students participate in the one third of adult patients refer symptom onset in childhood
study shows that there is a negative correlation between OCI and among children, two third cases are boys. MAAS score for
and MAAS which says that if OCI decreases MAAS increases. males is 4.31 while MAAS score for females is 4.23, here the
study shows that males are more mindful than females8. There
DISCUSSION
is a non-supporting evidence of Wenli Wang, Robert Morris on
In this study, OT UG students shows obsessive compulsive
Mindfulness and gender: A pilot Quantitative study, the study
symptoms and some are mindful and specifically all first to
concluded that male and female students do not vary
third year students shows obsessive compulsive symptoms
and average mindful and fourth year students demonstrated significantly in their average mindfulness disposition overall
fewer obsessive-compulsive symptoms and more mindful however there are some differences in the variance of gender
than other year's students (Graph 2) and there is a negative but females may be more susceptible to stress9
correlation between OCI and MAAS which says that if OCI
decreases MAAS increases. (Table 1). LIMITATIONS:
The population was less in number & unequal proportion of
This might be due to Occupational therapy students often Occupational Therapy undergraduate's student male and
work with people with mental health problems, disabilities, female.
impairments or injuries and they are repeatedly taught to be
responsible and sterile and taught that any mistake could lead CONCLUSION:
to terrible consequences, a psychological effect could The study shows the relationship between Obsessive
happen and lead to development of obsessive-compulsive Compulsive symptoms and mindfulness in undergraduates
symptoms. Second and third-year student have higher OCI Occupational Therapy students. Obsessive Compulsive
scores as they have to attended clinicals daily, new medical symptoms is now-a days a growing mental health problem.
2 www.worldwidejournals.com
PARIPEX - INDIAN JOURNAL OF RESEARCH | Volume - 10 | Issue - 07 |July - 2021 | PRINT ISSN No. 2250 - 1991 | DOI : 10.36106/paripex
Decrease in Obsessive Compulsive symptoms is leading to
increase in mindfulness.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Larger data from multiple institutes can be compiled and
analysed together. Similar long-term studies can be
conducted with larger sample size. Factors such as family
financial status, social support, and past emotional trauma
may be included in the study as it affects the sleep quality of a
person. Persons with other Occupations can be studied.

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Indian research in obsessive compulsive disorder Department of Psychiatry,
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4. Marjike Hanstede , Yori Gidron, Ivan Nylicek. The effects of mindfulness
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www.worldwidejournals.com 3