RESUMO
The long-term course and prognosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is insufficiently known. To identify predictors of OCD course, follow-up studies of patients with OCD were reviewed and their findings summarized. According to these studies, the following variables were correlated with poor outcome: early onset, severity of OCD symptoms, chronic course, poor social functioning at baseline, lifetime history of comorbid psychiatric and personality disorders, presence of parental Axis I psychiatric diagnosis, and delayed response to serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the beginning of the treatment. Due to the availability of new treatments, most patients with OCD can expect significant improvement, but not complete remission of the disorder. The reviewed follow-up studies support previous reports on the chronicity of OCD