[Comorbidity of compulsive disorders in childhood and adolescence].
OBJECTIVE
The cross-sectional comorbidity of child and adolescent inpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was assessed.


METHODS
The hospital records of all inpatients treated for OCD since 1976 (31 girls, 46 boys) were compared with data from a prospective epidemiological longitudinal study (90 girls, 84 boys) in two age cohorts (< 15 years; > or = 15 years) with regard to comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. Additionally, psychiatric Axis I diagnoses of patients with a supplementary diagnosis of compulsive symptoms (n = 45) were descriptively assessed in the client population.


RESULTS
In the subgroup of OCD patients < 15 years, boys showed a higher incidence of tic disorders. OCD girls > or = 15 years showed a tendency toward more frequent comorbid affective disorders and a significant result regarding concurrent eating disorders. Eighteen of 27 female patients with supplementary compulsive symptoms requiring clinical intervention had an Axis I diagnosis of eating disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
Due to different criteria of classification, diverging definitions of comorbidity and different age cohorts and samples, studies on comorbidity in OCD patients are difficult to compare. The frequency of comorbid psychiatric disorders may be over-estimated if the general prevalence of psychiatric disorders in terms of gender and age is not taken into account.
Becker
K
K
Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters am Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit, Mannheim. kbecker@zi-mannheim.de
Jennen-Steinmetz
Ch
Ch
Holtmann
M
M
el-Faddagh
M
M
Schmidt
M H
MH
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013981:Tic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology