Epidemiology Of Obsessive-compulsive Disorder Research Articles

The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Data from the Saudi National Mental Health Survey

AimsThere is ongoing debate about the extent to which the epidemiology of OCD is similar across the world, given the lack of nationally representative data from key regions like the Middle East and North Africa. Using the nationally representative dataset from the Saudi National Mental Health Survey (SNMHS), we aimed to delineate the epidemiological profile of OCD in the Saudi population. MethodsA subsample of 1981 participants from the SNMHS was assessed. Prevalence estimates and correlates of OCD were determined using logistic regressions and cross tabulations. ResultsThe lifetime, 12-month, and 30-day prevalence estimates for OCD were 4.2%, 1.8%, and 1.6%, respectively, with hoarding being the most common symptom dimension. The mean age-of-onset of OCD was 16.8 years. In over two-thirds of respondents with lifetime (72.2%) or 12-month (71.2%), OCD was accompanied by comorbid mental disorder, particularly impulse control, anxiety, and mood disorders. Among individuals with 12-month OCD, 77.5% reported severe impairment, and only 9.2% received treatment. ConclusionsIn Saudi Arabia, OCD is a prevalent and persistent condition, characterized by early onset, high odds of mental comorbidity, and significant associated impairment. These findings emphasize the universality of OCD epidemiology and the need for improved diagnosis and treatment globally.

Forming a Doctor-Patient Alliance During COVID-19 to Enhance Treatment Outcomes for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Forming a Doctor-Patient Alliance During COVID-19 to Enhance Treatment Outcomes for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Prevalence, comorbidity, quality of life and use of services of obsessive-compulsive disorder and subthreshold obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the general adult population of Greece

Objective: We aimed to describe the epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related subthreshold symptoms in the general population of Greece and to assess the comorbidity, use of health services and impact on quality of life of these syndromes in the general population.Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the 2009–2010 general population Greek psychiatric morbidity survey (4902 participants living in private households, response rate 54%). Psychiatric disorders were assessed with the revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R). Quality of life was assessed with the EuroQoL EQ-5D.Results: 1.69% of the participants (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.33%–2.05%) met criteria for current OCD while 2.79% met criteria for subthreshold obsessive-compulsive symptoms (95%CI: 2.33%–3.26%). In the adjusted analysis few sociodemographic associations remained statistically significant. Although the full-blown syndrome was more severe in terms of comorbidity and quality of life our results showed that even subthreshold obsessive-compulsive symptoms were associated with significant comorbidity and reductions in quality of life. Use of mental health services was small.Conclusions: OCD is an under-treated public health problem that needs more attention in Greece and elsewhere. Provision of specialised mental health services should be a priority for publicly funded national health systems.KeypointsOCD is common in the general population of Greece with few sociodemographic associations apart from subjective financial difficulties.The comorbidity pattern of the full-blown syndrome versus the subthreshold obsessive-compulsive symptoms is similar and differs in magnitude in the expected way.Quality of life in OCD is greatly reduced especially when there is chronicity and/or comorbidity with depression.Use of services is limited but comorbidity with depression may increase the chances of consultation with a mental health professional.

Epidemiology of obsessive compulsive disorder at high school students in Edirne city center

Epidemiology of obsessive compulsive disorder at high school students in Edirne city center Objective: To investigate the prevalence of OCD among high school students in Edirne city center, to determine sociodemographic features of OCD, and to determine frequency of OCD symptoms. Methods: The study was conducted with 9th, 10th, and 11th grade high school students in the Edirne city center. The frequency of OCD among the entire population was accepted on 3% in the calculation of sample size and 3107 students among 8037 province-wide students were enrolled to the study with a 0.6% tolerance and a 95% confidence level. The sample was selected from province-wide high schools using stratified sampling by weighing according to gender and the number of students. The sociodemographic data form and the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), which will be filled out by the participant, and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and two subscales of the CIDI concerning major depression (MD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), which were filled out by the interviewer, were used. In the study, conducted together with a biostatistician, 117 students who had a MOCI score of ≥ 25 were enrolled into the next stage of the assessment with respect to the normal distribution. Thus, the students who were eligible for assessment of OCD were also diagnostically-assessed in terms of co-morbid GAD and MD by the CIDI. Results: A total of 40 students were diagnosed with OCD, and the point prevalence of OCD was found to be 1.4%. Sociodemographic features of the cases were not statistically significantly different compared to the control group included students selected from the 2856 students, except 117 students who had a MOCI score of ≥ 25, obtained after dividing into equal intervals. Contamination obsessions and control compulsions were most frequently encountered (40% and 22.5%, respectively), and the frequency of co-morbid MD and GAD were 47.5% and 5%, respectively. Conclusion: In the present study, the sociodemographic features were different from the literature and the results were not statistically different compared to the control group. Puberty is a sensitive period that has different features from other age groups. Therefore, difficulties of working with such an age group were also observed in the present study. It is suggested that there is a need for more informative studies for a better understanding of psychiatric disorders in the population, particularly in adolescence.

The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication

Despite significant advances in the study of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), important questions remain about the disorder's public health significance, appropriate diagnostic classification, and clinical heterogeneity. These issues were explored using data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, a nationally representative survey of US adults. A subsample of 2073 respondents was assessed for lifetime Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn (DSM-IV) OCD. More than one quarter of respondents reported experiencing obsessions or compulsions at some time in their lives. While conditional probability of OCD was strongly associated with the number of obsessions and compulsions reported, only small proportions of respondents met full DSM-IV criteria for lifetime (2.3%) or 12-month (1.2%) OCD. OCD is associated with substantial comorbidity, not only with anxiety and mood disorders but also with impulse-control and substance use disorders. Severity of OCD, assessed by an adapted version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, is associated with poor insight, high comorbidity, high role impairment, and high probability of seeking treatment. The high prevalence of subthreshold OCD symptoms may help explain past inconsistencies in prevalence estimates across surveys and suggests that the public health burden of OCD may be greater than its low prevalence implies. Evidence of a preponderance of early onset cases in men, high comorbidity with a wide range of disorders, and reliable associations between disorder severity and key outcomes may have implications for how OCD is classified in DSM-V.

Brain Stimulation Techniques in the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Current and Future Directions

Recent studies on the epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) estimate 50 million patients suffer from OCD worldwide, thus making it a global problem. The treatment of OCD has changed substantially over the last 2 decades following the introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which provide symptom improvement in approximately 60% of patients. However, some patients remain resistant to the standard pharmacologic and behavioral treatments. Although some treatment-resistant patients respond to pharmacologic augmentations, others do not, and there is evidence that some of the most severe cases benefit from treatment with neurosurgical interventions. Besides pharmacologic, behavioral, and neurosurgical approaches, different brain stimulation methods-transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation, and electroconvulsive therapy-have been investigated in treatment-resistant patients with OCD. However, available data about the use of these techniques in OCD treatment are quite limited in terms of sample size and study design, given the difficulty in conducting standard blinded trials for these procedures. In addition, none of the mentioned treatments have received Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of OCD. Nevertheless, promising findings regarding efficacy, tolerability, and non-invasiveness and/or reversibility of these techniques have increased interest in investigating their use in treatment-resistant OCD.

The assessment of obsessionality using the Padua inventory: its validity in a British non-clinical sample

The Padua Inventory (PI) is a measure of obsessive–compulsive phenomena, which permits measurement of both number and severity of symptoms. Data is available from Italy, the US, the Netherlands and Australia on non-clinical samples. The present study provides a psychometric evaluation of the PI on a British non-clinical sample ( N=1855). Comparisons are made with other data and further suggestions for the use of the PI are made. Results from the present study indicate that the PI has similar, though not identical, factor structure to previous studies, adequate internal reliability and construct validity. Four factors emerged, containing clusters of items broadly relating to `impaired control over mental activities/doubting', `contamination', `checking' and `worries about losing control over motor behaviour' and these included most of the items loading on the same factors in earlier studies together with additional items. The relationships of age and gender with the PI scores are investigated. Differences were found from the Sanavio (1988) [Sanavio, E. (1988). Obsessions and compulsions: the Padua Inventory. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 26, 169–177.] Italian sample. These differences are in keeping with other available data from British samples and other data on the epidemiology of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The five factor structure found in the one study using clinical and non-clinical subjects is discussed in relation to the present analyses.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder: theory, research, and treatment

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Theory, Research, and Treatment Richard P. Swinson, Martin M. Antony, Stanley Rachman, and Margaret A. Richter (Eds.). London: Guilford Press (www.guilford.com). 1998, 478 pp., $50.00 (hardcover). Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with some of the worst impairment observed among anxiety disorders patients and can cause sufferers severe torment as well as problems such as chronic unemployment and relationship difficulties. Recent research advances have increased our knowledge of OCD in a wide range of realms. Such research provides a more complex and multidimensional understanding of its cognitive phenomenology, as well as its developmental and physiological correlates, and approaches to assessment and treatment. It is timely, then, for a book that brings together this rapidly expanding wealth of information. This excellent edited volume provides a state-of-the-art review of OCD and its multifaceted complexity. In this 18-chapter book, which is divided into three sections, a stellar list of contributors presents an up-to-date summary of knowledge and research findings. The first section of the book, which deals with the descriptive psychopathology and theoretical perspectives of OCD, contains almost half of the chapters. Thus, the first section provides a conceptual foundation for the book and has as its prime focus the manifold nature of OCD itself. These chapters provide an excellent summary of the state of knowledge in a variety of converging disciplines and areas of study. The second section, which has seven chapters, has a more applied, clinical emphasis and addresses assessment and treatment issues. The third section has two chapters and addresses the question of OCD spectrum disorders. The book also has a useful Appendix which lists resources (such as national organizations) for OCD. As the editors suggest, recent years have seen great advances achieved in the understanding and treatment of OCD. The present book succeeds admirably in bringing much of this work together. The first section of the book on psychopathology and theoretical perspectives begins with a strong chapter by Antony, Downie and S winson that addresses diagnostic issues and the epidemiology of OCD. Their chapter reviews findings on the impairment in living that is often associated with the disorder, as well findings on the comorbidity of the disorder, demographic correlates, onset patterns, and prevalence. In the second chapter Salkovskis presents a cogent rationale for proposing cognitive conceptualization to obsessional problems. As he points out, research suggests that the contents of the intrusive thoughts of normal or nondisordered individuals are virtually indistinguishable from those of patients with OCD. Cognitive theories, such as those of Salkovskis and of Rachman, assume that the origins of obsessions are to be found in normal intrusions and dysfunctional meanings that individuals with OCD give to these intrusions. In the next chapter, Rachman and Shafran present a superb review of the research literature on the cognitive and behavioral aspects of OCD. Their chapter contains an excellent discussion of information processing in OCD, and of cognitive biases such as exaggerations in the sense of responsibility, and thought-action fusion. A chapter by Summerfeldt, Huta, and Swinson provides a scholarly review of the literature on personality and OCD. They argue that categorical approaches to personality disorder have been unproductive, whereas dimensional approaches (e.g., to perfectionism, indecisiveness, harm avoidance) have been fruitful. An excellent chapter by Steketee and Pruyn turns attention to a different domain-the families of individuals with OCD. They offer a compelling description of the adverse impact of the disorder on families and show that many families become dysfunctional because one of their members has OCD. Their chapter also discusses the implications of family involvement for practice and treatment. …

Epidemiology and genetics of obsessive-compulsive disorder

This article reviews the epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The estimated prevalence of OCD in the community is 2-3%. The condition appears to be somewhat more prevalent in women; less prevalent in older subjects; and relatively infrequent in minority groups. Most cases have onset before the age of 25, and symptoms may first occur in childhood and adolescence. The majority of cases have a course marked by episodes of illness with periods of incomplete remission. Comorbid conditions, especially major depression and phobias, are common. Evidence from twin and family studies suggests that OCD may be inherited. Ongoing family studies are investigating the phenotypic spectrum that may be transmitted; the clinical and etiologic heterogeneity of the condition; the possible mode of inheritance; and the identification of genes that may be implicated. This information will be important for understanding the pathophysiology of OCD and for developing effective treatment approaches.

The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in an Italian population

SummaryThis study presents the clinical and demographic characteristics of a sample of 131 patients, who met DSM III-R criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Our aim was to compare our epidemiological data with non-European research, and to investigate the relationship between OCD symptoms and other clinical features, ie other Axis I concomitant disturbances, personality disorders (Axis II) and family history. Furthermore, we evaluated the age at onset distribution according to sex, family history and presence/absence of a comorbid diagnosis of mood disorder, by means of survival analysis.

Toward a new nosology of obsessive compulsive disorder

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is receiving increasing attention in the clinical research literature. This review briefly summarizes data concerning diagnosis, phenomenology, and epidemiology of OCD and examines other disorders that closely resemble OCD. In addition, the nosological and treatment implications of these data are discussed. We find that OCD is characterized by a focal anxiety point(s) reflected in obsessions and by behavioral or cognitive compulsions. The appearance of these characteristics in other disorders suggests some relation between them and, consequently, the treatment of these disorders may be enhanced by conceptualizing them as OCD “variants”.