title: Treatment seeking for obsessive-compulsive disorder: role of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms and comorbid psychiatric diagnoses.
abstract: Previous research has indicated that individuals afflicted with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have a very low rate of seeking help from mental health professionals. From standardized psychiatric interviews of 7,214 residents of Edmonton, Canada, we identified 172 subjects with a lifetime diagnosis of OCD; 63 (36.6%) had consulted a doctor about their symptoms. Total number of OCD symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 2.23) and severe obsessions of violence and other unpleasant thoughts (OR = 2.52) were significantly associated with treatment seeking in multivariate analysis. The absence of association between compulsions and treatment seeking was corroborated by a very low prevalence of treatment seeking (17.3%) in individuals suffering from compulsions only. Our findings suggest that there is a need to teach the public about compulsions, and such a strategy may enhance future public health education programs.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies, Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Jamie I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Mayerovitch
authors.forename: Guillaume Galbaud
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: du Fort
authors.forename: Ritsuko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kakuma
authors.forename: Roger C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Bland
authors.forename: Stephen C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Gilbert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pinard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence