Gender-divergent aetiological factors in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in the United States and it has been studied extensively, except for the effects of gender upon the condition. A study was conducted of 137 men and 170 women (average age 34.5 years) diagnosed with OCD to identify demographic and clinical characteristics. It was found that age of onset was from age 5 to 15 for men and age 26 to 35 years for women. This means that men would have a longer duration of illness than women. Fifty-four percent of men were married and 32 percent of the women were married. Fifteen percent were raised as only children, and 46 percent were first-born. The major finding of this study was that more men had childhood onset and more women had late onset of symptoms of OCD. Other literature suggests that early onset may be predictive of more severe symptoms and poor prognosis. There was also a history of anorexia nervosa in the women with OCD. It is speculated that organic (for men) or depressive (for women) factors may produce the gender effects found in these data. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)