Aim Very little is known about the relationship between obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and substance use disorder (SUD). The aim of this study is to compare the co‐occurrence of OCD with SUD to the co‐occurrence of SUD with other psychiatric disorders in a representative community sample.
Design In order to examine the association of SUD and OCD, logistic regression analyses were used generating odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for life‐time prevalence and 12‐month prevalence.
Setting and participants Cross‐sectional data were derived from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS), a large representative sample of the Dutch population (n = 7076).
Measurements The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) 1.1 was used to assess Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Axis I criteria for psychiatric disorders.
Findings The life‐time and 12‐month odds of being diagnosed with SUD in subjects with OCD are significantly higher than the odds of SUD for people without a psychiatric disorder. In men, the co‐occurrence of substance dependence and OCD is significantly higher than the co‐occurrence of substance dependence and other psychiatric disorders, whereas in women this co‐occurrence does not differ significantly.
Conclusions The co‐occurrence of substance dependence in obsessive–compulsive disorder is higher than the co‐occurrence of substance dependence in other non‐obsessive–compulsive disorder DSM disorders, especially in men.