The Padua Inventory: A Quiz For Ocd
Dr. Ian Osborn recommends the following test to screen for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
The Padua Inventory
Instructions: Reply to each question with a rating of 0 to 4 (0 equals not at all; 1 equals a little; 2 equals some; 3 equals a lot; 4 equals very much.)
1. I feel my hands are dirty when I touch money.
2. I think even slight contact with bodily secretions (perspiration, saliva, urine, etc.) may contaminate my clothes or somehow harm me.
3. I find it difficult to touch an object when I know it has been touched by strangers or by certain people.
4. I find it difficult to touch garbage or dirty things.
5. I avoid using public toilets because I am afraid of disease and contamination.
6. I avoid using public telephones because I am afraid of contagion and disease.
7. I wash my hands more often and longer than necessary.
8. I sometimes have to wash or clean myself simply because I think I may be dirty or contaminated.
9. If I touch something I think is "contaminated," I immediately have to wash or clean myself.
10. If an animal touches me, I feel dirty and immediately have to wash myself or change my clothing.
11. When doubts and worries come to my mind, I cannot rest until I have talked them over with a reassuring person.
12. When I talk I tend to repeat the same things and the same sentence several times.
13. I tend to ask people to repeat the same things to me several times consecutively, even though I did understand what they said the first time.
14. I feel obliged to follow a particular order in dressing, undressing and washing myself.
15. Before going to sleep I have to do certain things in a certain order. 16. Before going to bed I have to hang up or fold my clothes in a special way.
17. I feel I have to repeat certain numbers for no reason.
18. I have to do things several times before I think they are properly done.
19. I tend to keep on checking things more often than necessary.
20. I check and recheck gas and water taps and light switches after turning them off.
21. I return home to check doors, windows, drawers, etc. to make sure they are properly shut.
22. I keep on checking forms, documents, checks, etc. in detail to make sure I have filled them out correctly.
23. I keep going back to see that matches, cigarettes, etc. are properly extinguished.
24. When I handle money I count and recount it several times.
25. I check letters carefully many times before posting them.
26. I find it difficult to make decisions, even about unimportant matters.
27. Sometimes I am not sure I have done things that in fact I know I have done.
28. I have the impression that I will never be able to explain things clearly, especially when talking about important matters that involve me.
29. After doing something carefully, I still have the impression I have either done it badly or not finished it.
30. I am sometimes late because I keep on doing certain things more often than necessary.
31. I invent doubts and problems about most of the things I do.
32. When I start thinking of certain things, I become obsessed with them.
33. Unpleasant thoughts come into my mind against my will and I cannot get rid of them.
34. Obscene or dirty words come into my mind and I cannot get rid of them.
35. My brain constantly goes its own way and I find it difficult to attend to what is happening around me.
36. I imagine catastrophic consequences as a result of absent-mindedness or minor errors I have made.
37. I think or worry at length about having hurt someone without knowing it.
38. When I hear about a disaster, I think it is somehow my fault.
39. I sometimes worry at length for no reason that I have hurt myself or have some disease.
40. I sometimes start to count objects for no reason.
41. I feel I have to remember completely unimportant numbers.
42. When I read, I have the impression I have missed something important and must go back and reread the passage at least two or three times.
43. I worry about remembering completely unimportant things and make an effort not to forget them.
44. When a thought or doubt comes into my mind, I have to examine it from all points of view and cannot stop until I have done so.
45. In certain situations I am afraid of losing my self-control and doing embarrassing things.
46. When I look down from a bridge or a very high window, I feel an impulse to throw myself into space.
47. When I see a train approaching, I sometimes think I could throw myself under its wheels.
48. At certain moments I am tempted to tear off my clothes in public.
49. While driving, I sometimes feel an impulse to drive the car into someone or something.
50. Seeing weapons excites me and makes me think violent thoughts.
51. I get upset and worried at the sight of knives, daggers and other pointed objects.
52. I sometimes feel something inside me that makes me do things that are really senseless and that I do not want to do.
53. I sometimes feel the need to break or damage things for no reason.
54. I sometimes have an impulse to steal other people's belongings, even if they are of no use to me.
55. I am sometimes almost irresistibly tempted to steal something from the supermarket.
56. I sometimes have an impulse to hurt defenseless children or animals.
57. I feel I have to make special gestures or walk a certain way.
58. In certain situations I feel an impulse to eat too much, even if I am then ill.
59. When I hear about a suicide or a crime, I am upset for a long time and find it difficult to stop thinking about it.
60. I invent useless worries about germs and diseases.
Add your ratings (0 to 4) for the 60 questions. The average for people in general is about 40; the average for people in treatment for OCD is about 80.