OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how obsessive-compulsive personality disorder will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a tradition question bank (as all of the answers will be the same), however seeing the classic “test” characterization for a disease is quite valuable.
QUESTION EXAMPLES
Question # 1
A 20 year old student is referred to the institution’s health center due to anxiety and difficulty completing his assignments on time. He has always been a stellar student, and is very proud of having been the valedictorian of his high school class. Throughout his life he admits that he has found it difficult to keep up with his work as eh spends a lot of time ensuring that he masters the content of all his assignments. In high school, the patient developed a methodical and meticulous way of completing his assignments and would very often be awarded perfect grades. Now in college, he records every class and spends hours going over these recordings to learn every fact so he can perfect his notes. The patient is always worried about the scores he is receiving on assignments. He has a few friends, but is socially awkward. he prefers to avoid social actives because the detract from his study time. The patient does realize that his preparation methods are not typical compared to the other students, however he believes that his work is superior to others even if it takes extra time. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Question # 2
A 45 year old man comes to the clinic for a routine exam. He is accompanied by his wife for this visit. During the exam, his wife states th he is opinionated, competitive, stubborn, and very rigid in his ways. She feels he has a difficult time making basic decisions and getting rid of old items that have no use. She also is annoyed that he is always so anxious and obsessed with being early for everything. He is a successful doctor, and his coworkers have said that he believes that there is only one way to get things done: his way. When asked about this he does not feel that there is any problem. His exam is unremarkable. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Question # 3
A 45-year-old man comes to the clinic at the insistence of his boss because he constantly has missed important deadlines for projects at work. The man states that everyone at work is a “lazy bum” and that no one lives up to his own standards. He becomes upset when the physician starts the interview 2 minutes late. He explains that he is always fighting with his wife because he is a “hoarder” and is unable to throw anything out. During the interview, he is very rigid and stubborn with his beliefs. What is the most likely diagnosis for this patient?
Page Updated: 09.12.2016