title: Gender differences in obsessive-compulsive disorder: findings from a large Indian sample.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gender has been considered as one of the possible factors mediating phenotypic expression of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We examined gender differences in a large sample of subjects with OCD from India with respect to socio-demographic parameters, symptom characteristics, and comorbidity patterns.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive patients (n=545) who consulted a specialty OCD clinic over 5 years at a large psychiatric hospital in India were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Men (n=332) compared to women (n=213) with OCD had an earlier onset (p<0.001), higher frequency of sexual (p<0.001) and religious obsessions (p=0.001) pathological doubts (p<0.001) and checking (p<0.001) and repeating compulsions (p<0.001), and a greater tendency to have comorbid social phobia (p=0.006). Women compared to men were more likely to be married, had a higher frequency of fear of contamination (p=0.017), comorbid depression (p=0.014) and greater suicidal risk (p=0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study provides further evidence for gender related differences in clinical features of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Our findings are only partly comparable with results from studies across the world possibly due to various biological and cultural factors mediating the phenotypic expression of OCD across the genders. There is a need to examine the biological basis for these gender differences.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India; K.S. Hegde Medical Academy, Mangalore, India. Electronic address: anishvcherian@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Anish V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Cherian
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Janardhanan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Narayanaswamy
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Biju
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Viswanath
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India; K.S. Hegde Medical Academy, Mangalore, India.
authors.forename: Nishi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guru
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Cilna M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bada Math
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Thennarasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kandavel
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Janardhan Reddy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D015897:Comorbidity; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009770:Obsessive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D063189:Symptom Assessment; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Co-morbidity; Gender; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Phenotypic; Symptom dimensions