A Singapore study of obsessive compulsive disorder.
This is a study of 283 consecutive patients diagnosed as suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) who had sought treatment in a private psychiatric clinic. This represents 4.5% of all patients treated in the clinic. Ninety-four percent were Chinese, 3% were Indians and 0.4% were Malays. The mean age of onset of illness was 27, SD 11.9. Fifty-one percent of patients developed their illness prior to age 25. There were more male than female patients. The male to female ratio was 1.4:1. A high percentage of patients had attained higher educational level and were economically active. The main forms of the obsession were idea, impulse and image; and the main contents were contamination, illness, aggression, exactness, sex, death and religion. The main compulsions were cleaning, checking, repetitive behaviour, need for symmetry and precision and hoarding. The co-morbidity diagnoses were depressive, general anxiety, phobia, panic and psychotic disorder. In the patients who were followed-up for more than one year, it was found that 78% improved with treatment given. However, 22% remained unwell or deteriorated. In this series, it was noted that 17% of patients were severely incapacitated by the illness. Six percent had admission to mental hospital and 1% (3 cases) committed suicide.
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology