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The OCI-R is one of the most widely used self-report OCD measures. Eighteen items, six 3-item subscales each mapping to a distinct OCD symptom dimension. It’s the natural choice when you suspect OCD or an OC-spectrum presentation and you want both a severity number and a profile of which symptom clusters are dominant. The dimension profile matters for treatment planning — washing-heavy presentations and checking-heavy presentations both score the same on a single-number measure but call for very different ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) hierarchies.

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What it measures

OCD symptoms across six 3-item subscales:
SubscaleItemsCutoff
Washing5, 11, 17≥5
Checking2, 8, 14≥6
Ordering3, 9, 15≥6
Obsessing6, 12, 18≥6
Hoarding1, 7, 13≥6
Neutralizing4, 10, 16≥4
Subscale cutoffs from Abramowitz & Deacon (2006). Each item is rated 0–4 (Not at all / A little / Moderately / A lot / Extremely) over the past month. The total is the sum across all 18 items, range 0–72.

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When to send it

  • OCD differential screening — particularly when symptoms might be confused with GAD, social anxiety, or trauma-related avoidance
  • Pre/post for ERP protocols
  • Tracking which symptom dimensions respond to treatment (the dimension profile often changes faster than the total)
  • 4–6 week intervals during active OCD treatment
The 18 items take about 5 minutes. Async administration works well; the 1-month time frame means you don’t need it in the room.

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How Rivet scores it

Sum of 18 items, range 0–72. The total cutoff for probable OCD is ≥21 (Foa 2002). The six subscale scores (each 0–12) and total surface in the live-scoring pill the moment your client submits, with the above-cutoff dimensions labeled. This is Rivet’s first 6-subscale instrument — the pattern matches DASS-21 (3 subscales) and PCL-5 (4 clusters + total) but with more dimensions.

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Citation

Foa, E. B., Huppert, J. D., Leiberg, S., Langner, R., Kichic, R., Hajcak, G., & Salkovskis, P. M. (2002). The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory: Development and validation of a short version. Psychological Assessment, 14(4), 485–496. Subscale cutoffs: Abramowitz, J. S., & Deacon, B. J. (2006). Psychometric properties and construct validity of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory—Revised: Replication and extension with a clinical sample. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20(8), 1016–1035. Free clinical use; the verbatim canonical wording is preserved.

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When not to use it

The OCI-R is a symptom-severity measure, not a diagnostic interview. A score above cutoff supports the OCD picture but doesn’t replace the clinical interview, particularly when the differential includes trauma- related ritualistic behaviour, autism-spectrum restricted patterns, or psychotic-spectrum intrusive thoughts. For trauma-related symptoms in the differential, pair with the PCL-5.

GAD-7

The 7-item generalized anxiety screen — often part of an OCD differential panel.

PCL-5

The 20-item PTSD checklist — for the trauma-related differential.