OCD Linked to Increased Risk for Ischemic Stroke Credit: Getty Images HealthDay News â Adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have an increased risk for ischemic stroke, according to a study published online May 27 in Stroke. Mu-Hung Chen, M.D., Ph.D., from Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues used data collected between 2001 and 2010 for 28,064 adult patients with OCD and 28,064 age-, sex-, and comorbidity-matched controls. Patients who developed ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke through the end of 2011 were identified. The researchers found that compared with non-OCD controls, patients with OCD, especially middle-aged and elderly adults, had an elevated risk for developing ischemic stroke during follow-up (hazard ratios, 3.02, 2.66, and 3.46, respectively). There was no difference noted in the cumulative hazard ratio of hemorrhagic stroke between the OCD and non-OCD groups. Compared with nonuse, short- and long-term use of OCD medications was not associated with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke among patients with OCD.