title: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is still an unrecognised disorder: a study on the recognition of OCD in psychiatric outpatients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aims to investigate the recognition of patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in psychiatric outpatients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 2282 outpatients seen at 14 different psychiatric clinics in South Germany were asked to participate in the study. Five hundred and eighty-nine (30%) of the original 2282 patients met screening criteria for OCD, and of those, 237 (42%) participated in the final interview including DSM-IV diagnosis, and comorbidity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-nine of 589 participating patients who screened positively for obsessive symptoms actually had an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Only 19 (28%) of the outpatients diagnosed with OCD according to DSM-IV criteria were also given this diagnosis by their consultant. The psychopathology scores indicated that the OCD patients had clinically relevant OCD with a mean Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Score (Y-BOCS) of 17.5 (± 5.4), and a mean Clinical Global Impression Score (CGI) of 5.2 (± 1.2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In outpatient clinics over 70% of OCD patients remain unrecognised and thus untreated by consultants. Screening questions provide a rapid way of identifying those who may have OCD and should be incorporated into every mental state examination by consultants.
authors.affiliation: University Clinic of Luebeck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Luebeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, Luebeck, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wahl
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kordon
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kuelz
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Voderholzer
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hohagen
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zurowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010045:Outpatients; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires