Polygenic risk score
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
ICD-11 6B20 · OCD and related disorders
The OCD polygenic risk score summarizes common-variant liability for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. OCD GWAS cohorts are smaller than those for depression or schizophrenia, so the PRS is less well-powered than some other psychiatric scores — but the underlying signal is real.
OCD has among the highest genetic correlations in psychiatry with Tourette Syndrome (rg ≈ 0.41) and with Anorexia Nervosa (rg ≈ 0.50) — reflecting shared biology across compulsive-spectrum conditions.
At a glance
OCD is moderately heritable and genetically distinct from anxiety. Your score reflects the latest PGC OCD GWAS.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that the person feels driven to perform. Twin heritability is around 40-50%. OCD shares some common-variant risk with Tourette syndrome and a modest amount with anxiety and depression.
What the GWAS actually found
OCD GWAS have historically been sample-size-limited, but PGC-led collaborations are closing the gap. Twin-study heritability sits at approximately 0.40–0.50, comparable to depression and anxiety. SNP-based heritability and PRS variance explained remain modest as cohorts accumulate.
OCD shows notably high common-variant correlation with Tourette Syndrome (rg ≈ 0.41, Davis 2013) and Anorexia Nervosa (rg ≈ 0.50, Yilmaz 2018), pointing to a shared compulsive-spectrum genetic architecture that crosses traditional diagnostic boundaries.
Full citation: Latest PGC OCD GWAS (2025). Psychiatric Genomics Consortium OCD Working Group. See https://pgc.unc.edu/ for the canonical publication.
How to read your percentile
Below 25th
Lower common-variant liability than most of the reference cohort. OCD remains possible and treatable regardless of PRS percentile.
25th–75th
Typical range — near the population average. PRS is not clinically informative at this percentile.
Above 75th
Elevated common-variant liability. Consider the score a probabilistic signal; evidence-based treatment (ERP, SSRIs) is effective for OCD irrespective of genetic liability.
What this does not tell you
An OCD PRS cannot diagnose OCD, distinguish obsessional from compulsive-dominant presentations, or identify symptom dimensions (contamination, checking, symmetry, hoarding). Symptom-dimension-specific PRS is an active research area but is not what this score produces.
Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is the first-line evidence-based treatment for OCD — treatment response is not predicted by this PRS. The current cohort is predominantly European-ancestry; cross-ancestry transportability is reduced.
Related traits
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) shares common-variant architecture with several other psychiatric conditions. Genetic correlations (rg) reflect how often the same variants move risk for both traits in the same direction.
Frequently asked questions
Can the OCD PRS distinguish symptom dimensions?
Not yet. Current OCD GWAS pool across symptom dimensions (contamination, checking, symmetry, hoarding). Dimension-specific PRS is being studied but is not produced by this report.
How accurate is the OCD PRS compared to other psychiatric PRS?
The OCD PRS currently explains roughly 1–2% of variance in liability — lower than schizophrenia or bipolar but comparable to PTSD. Sample size is the primary limitation; accuracy will improve as PGC cohorts expand.
Why does OCD share genetic architecture with Anorexia?
Both conditions involve compulsive patterns and share genetic liability for compulsive-spectrum traits. The rg of ~0.50 between OCD and Anorexia is among the higher cross-disorder correlations reported in the PGC CDG analysis.
Should I take this score as a medical concern?
No. This report is research and educational, not clinical. OCD treatment — typically exposure and response prevention (ERP), sometimes combined with SSRIs — is evidence-based and effective regardless of PRS.
Sources
- PGC OCD Working Group. pgc.unc.edu/for-researchers/working-groups/ocd-workgroup/
- Davis et al. 2013 — OCD & Tourette genetic overlap. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003864
- Yilmaz et al. 2018 — OCD & Anorexia rg. doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0115-4
Note: This trait references a recent or pre-publication GWAS. Specific cohort numbers, loci counts, and variance-explained estimates on this page will be refined when the final peer-reviewed source is published. The product uses summary statistics from the source cited above.
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