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.
Grabe
Hans Joergen
HJ
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Stralsund, Germany. grabeh@uni-greifswald.de
Ruhrmann
Stephan
S
Spitzer
Carsten
C
Josepeit
Jana
J
Ettelt
Susan
S
Buhtz
Friederike
F
Hochrein
Andrea
A
Schulze-Rauschenbach
Svenja
S
Meyer
Klaus
K
Kraft
Susanne
S
Reck
Claudia
C
Pukrop
Ralf
R
Klosterkötter
Joachim
J
Falkai
Peter
P
Maier
Wolfgang
W
Wagner
Michael
M
John
Ulrich
U
Freyberger
Harald J
HJ
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