Subjective fatigue in individuals with anxiety and mood disorders correlates with specific traits of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

Fatigue is a common debilitating symptom in individuals with anxiety and mood disorders, also known as common mental disorders (CMD). Aspects of fatigue are seen to be independently associated with the presence of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) in individuals with CMD. However, the relationship between different traits of OCPD and fatigue is still under-researched. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the associations between individual OCPD traits and fatigue in those with CMD. This cross-sectional study investigated 203 individuals (76.8% female, mean age 40.8 ± 11.8) attending a stress-related disorders day care unit. Participants were evaluated for OCPD traits by using the Compulsive Personality Assessment Scale and completed the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20. Out of 203 participants, 42 (20.7%) fulfilled operational criteria for OCPD (73.8% female). Participants with OCPD had greater reduced motivation, mental and physical fatigue scores than those without OCPD (13.2 ± 3.6 vs. 14.5 ± 3.6, p = 0.035; 14.4 ± 4.3 vs. 16.1 ± 3.5, p = 0.023; 13.5 ± 4.3 vs. 15.0 ± 4.3, p = 0.049, respectively). In individuals with OCPD, higher levels of rigidity correlated with physical fatigue (ρ = 0.463, p = 0.002) and reduced activity (ρ = 0.363, p = 0.018), while preoccupation with details was associated with reduced motivation (ρ = 0.437, p = 0.004). In conclusion, in individuals with CMD and comorbid OCPD, several OCPD traits were significantly related to subjective measures of fatigue. As traits are considered stable features, there results suggest they might play a causative role in generating subjective fatigue in CMD.