Gender differences in disgust processing in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract

Objective To explore the gender differences in disgust processing in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods A total of 74 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (39 males and 35 females) and 65 normal healthy controls (35 males and 30 females) were assessed with Padua inventory-Washington State University revision (PI-WSUR), Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale (Y-BOCS) and were tested the lexical decision task, in order to evaluate their OCD symptoms and severity.The results of reaction time, accuracy and rating intensity of core disgust words, moral disgust words and neutral words were recorded, and the gender differences in disgust processing in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and normal healthy controls were analyzed. Results The reaction time of core disgust words((753.6±84.1) vs (711.8±83.8)ms), the reaction time of moral disgust words((813.5±89.0) vs (749.4±81.4)ms) and neutral words((775.3±91.8) vs (725.9±104.2)ms) showed significant differences between males and females in pateints with OCD, but there were no differences in accuracy and rating intensity(P<0.05 or P<0.01). In normal healthy controls, there were only differences between males and females in reaction time of neutral words, females were also showed shorter reaction time than males (P<0.01). Pearson correlation analysis showed that both male and female patients had a negative correlation between the reaction time of core disgust words and total PI-WSUR scores (P<0.05). There was a gender difference in the relative variables of PI-WSUR, Y-BOCS and disgust processing in OCD patients. Conclusion There were gender differences in disgust cognitive processing in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, females with obsessive-compulsive disorder have higher core disgust and moral disgust than males. Females with OCD have a special high sense of moral disgust. Key words: Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Core disgust; Moral disgust; Gender differences