OCI-R scoring is simple addition. You rate 18 items from 0 to 4, and the ratings add up to a total from 0 to 72. Each of six subscales adds three of those items, for a score from 0 to 12. The usual cutoff, or threshold, is 21. A total of 21 or higher is a good reason to talk with a doctor. The score can flag OCD symptoms, but it cannot diagnose OCD.
The quick answer
The OCI-R, or Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised, asks how much 18 experiences distressed or bothered you during the past month.
- Items: 18, each rated from 0 for no distress to 4 for extreme distress
- Subscales: six, with three items each, scored from 0 to 12
- Total: 0 to 72, the sum of all 18 ratings
- Cutoffs: 21 in the original study, or 18 when comparing OCD with other anxiety disorders
- Research ranges: 0-15 mild, 16-27 moderate and 28-72 severe, from a 2020 study of people with OCD
How to score the OCI-R
Scoring by hand takes five steps. No item is reverse scored, so a higher rating always adds to the score.
- Check that all 18 items have an answer. A blank item adds nothing, so the total would read too low.
- Give each answer its value: 0 for no distress, then 1, 2 and 3, up to 4 for extreme distress.
- Add the three items for each subscale, using the table below. Each of these scores runs from 0 to 12.
- Add the six scores to get your total from 0 to 72. Adding all 18 items gives the same number.
- Compare your total with the cutoffs and research ranges below, then look at which of the six scores are highest.
| Subscale | Items | Range | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoarding | 1, 7, 13 | 0-12 | Saving things and finding it hard to throw out |
| Checking | 2, 8, 14 | 0-12 | Checking things again and again |
| Ordering | 3, 9, 15 | 0-12 | A need for order, symmetry and exactness |
| Neutralizing | 4, 10, 16 | 0-12 | Counting and other mental rituals with numbers |
| Washing | 5, 11, 17 | 0-12 | Fear of contamination, and washing or cleaning |
| Obsessing | 6, 12, 18 | 0-12 | Unwanted, upsetting thoughts that are hard to stop |
The items cycle through the subscales in the same order. Item 1 is hoarding, item 2 is checking, and the pattern starts again at items 7 and 13. For example, answers of 2, 1 and 3 on items 6, 12 and 18 give an obsessing score of 6.
What the cutoffs of 21 and 18 mean
The OCI-R's developers tested it in three groups (Foa et al., 2002). The groups included 215 people with OCD, 243 with other anxiety disorders and 677 without anxiety problems. They reported two cutoffs for the total, each for a different comparison. A total of 21 best separated people with OCD from people without anxiety problems. A lower total of 18 best separated OCD from other anxiety disorders.
A 2018 Sri Lankan study of a translated OCI-R found that 21 worked best there too (Senanayake et al., 2018). It also reports the original study's results for both cutoffs.
The right cutoff depends on who is being compared. Neither number sorts people perfectly, so some people with OCD score below 21 and some without it score higher. A total under 21 does not rule out OCD. Symptoms still deserve attention if they take up time, cause distress or get in the way of daily life.
Where your total falls in the research ranges
A 2020 study compared OCI-R totals with the Y-BOCS in 1,339 people with OCD (Abramovitch et al., 2020). The Y-BOCS is an interview a doctor or therapist uses to rate OCD symptoms. The study matched OCI-R totals to its severity groups and proposed these ranges:
| OCI-R total | Research range |
|---|---|
| 0-15 | Mild |
| 16-27 | Moderate |
| 28-72 | Severe |
A total of 56, for example, falls in the 28-72 range. A total of 20 falls in the moderate range, even though it sits just under the cutoff of 21.
These ranges describe how strong symptoms were in people who already had a diagnosis. They do not show whether someone has OCD. The study found the line between mild and moderate worked best, while the higher line sorted people less accurately. The authors also advised reading totals with caution, because OCD symptoms differ so much from one person to the next.
Survey Doctor shows your total and the six scores without these labels, because some older results were labeled using different ranges.
How to read your subscale pattern
The six subscales show where your total came from. Two people can both score 24 in very different ways. One might score 12 on washing and 12 on checking, with zero elsewhere. Another might score 4 on all six.
Your highest subscales show which kinds of symptoms bothered you most. A 2007 study of 186 people with OCD checked whether the subscales track real symptom types (Huppert et al., 2007). People scored higher on the scale for their main type of symptom than other people with OCD did. Each point is one step on one answer, so a washing score of 9 means an average rating of 3.
Hoarding is now classed as a separate disorder from OCD. For that reason, researchers left the three hoarding items out of a shorter 12-item version (Abramovitch et al., 2021). A high hoarding score with low scores elsewhere is worth raising on its own.
The cutoffs and ranges above were set for the total, not for single subscales. Read each of the six as part of the pattern rather than against a fixed line.
What the score cannot tell you
The OCI-R measures how much each experience bothered you. It cannot diagnose OCD or tell it apart from every condition with similar symptoms. It does not measure how much time the symptoms take, how much they disrupt your life or why they started. A doctor or therapist needs a full assessment for that. A low score is not a reason to stop care you already have.
Unwanted thoughts that come into your mind are not the same as plans or intent. If you may act on thoughts of harming yourself or cannot stay safe, seek help now.
If you need help now. In the US, Call 988 or text 988. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger. Outside the US, contact your local emergency number or find support in your country.
Comparing scores over time
Taking the OCI-R again can show whether your distress has changed. Use the same 18-item form and the same past-month window, and compare each of the six scores as well as the total. A change in score shows that your answers changed, not why they changed.
Other OCD questionnaires use different questions and scoring. The DOCS groups symptoms into four broader areas, so its numbers do not convert to the OCI-R. Read what your DOCS score means for that result.
When to talk to a professional
Talk with a doctor or therapist if your total is 21 or higher. At any score, do the same if the thoughts or rituals take up time or make daily life harder. You do not need a high score to ask for help.
A primary care doctor is a good place to start. They can ask about other possible causes and refer you to a therapist who treats OCD. If your score seems too high or too low for how you feel, tell them that too.
It helps to bring:
- your total and all six subscale scores
- examples of what happens in daily life, such as checking before you leave home
- how much time the thoughts or rituals take on a typical day
- how long this has been going on, and whether it comes and goes
- anything you avoid because of these thoughts or rituals