Obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder.
BACKGROUND
Previous studies suggested an association between exposure to trauma or stressful life events and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study investigates the hypothesis that traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) precede the onset of OCD.


METHODS
210 cases with OCD from university treatment facilities were compared with 133 sex- and age-matched controls from the adult general population. The data were derived from a German family study on OCD (GENOS). Direct interviews were carried out with the German version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia - Lifetime Version for Anxiety Disorders (DSM-IV).


RESULTS
Severe traumatization occurred in 6.2% of the OCD cases and in 8.3% of the controls. The lifetime prevalence rates of traumatization, PTSD and acute stress disorder were not different between the subjects with OCD and controls (p > 0.05). In 6 cases, acute stress disorder, subclinical or full PTSD preceded the onset of OCD, in 3 cases the trauma-related disorders and OCD occurred within the same year, in 5 other cases, the trauma-related disorders started after the onset of OCD.


CONCLUSIONS
There is no significant association of traumatization or PTSD with OCD compared with controls. Given the low rate of trauma-related disorders occurring before (2.9%) or within (1.5%) the same year as the onset of OCD other factors than severe traumatic events determine the onset of OCD in most of the cases.
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Stralsund, Germany. grabeh@uni-greifswald.de
Hans Joergen
HJ
Grabe
Stephan
S
Ruhrmann
Carsten
C
Spitzer
Jana
J
Josepeit
Susan
S
Ettelt
Friederike
F
Buhtz
Andrea
A
Hochrein
Svenja
S
Schulze-Rauschenbach
Klaus
K
Meyer
Susanne
S
Kraft
Claudia
C
Reck
Ralf
R
Pukrop
Joachim
J
Klosterkötter
Peter
P
Falkai
Wolfgang
W
Maier
Michael
M
Wagner
Ulrich
U
John
Harald J
HJ
Freyberger
D000328:Adult; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D040701:Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology