Objective: To summarize the evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment and propose clinical interventions for adult patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Methods: A systematic review of the literature on CBT interventions for the treatment of adult OCD, comprising behavior therapy and exposure and response prevention (ERP) was done. The objective of this study is to present updated clinical guidelines to clinicians, providing comprehensive details regarding the necessary procedures to be incorporated into the CBT protocol. We searched the literature published from 2013-2020 in five databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Psycinfo and Lilacs), considering: study design, primary outcome measures, type of publication and language. Selected articles were assessed for quality with validated tools. Treatment recommendations were classified according to levels of evidence developed by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association (ACC/AHA).
Results: We examined 44 new studies used to update the APA guidelines from 2013. High-quality evidence supports CBT including ERP techniques as the first-line CBT treatment for OCD. In addition, protocols for internet-delivered CBT have also demonstrated their efficacy for the treatment of adults with OCD.
Conclusion: CBT based on ERP is a widely used treatment according to high-quality scientific evidence to treat adults with OCD.
Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder; cognitive-behavior therapy; exposure and response prevention; practice guideline; systematic review.