COVID-۱۹ Pandemic and the Questionable Validity of Obsessive-Compulsive Questionnaires

The COVID-۱۹ pandemic has impacted all aspects of our lives and even the scientific fields. Most of the COVID-۱۹ preventative strategies, such as basic hygiene, are similar to concerns of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, especially those with contamination fears. The obsessive-compulsive (OC) questionnaires typically have several items about basic hygiene. The contamination/cleaning/washing subscales of all well-known OC questionnaires were inspected in terms of their similarity to the COVID-۱۹ preventative strategies. In this paper, I discussed the way this similarity may threaten the validity of OC questionnaires along with the potential solutions.

Keywords:

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder , Contamination fear , Questionnaire , Validity , COVID-۱۹