Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys

Background: National surveys have suggested that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a prevalent and impairing condition. However, there are few cross-national data on OCD, with data particularly scarce in low- and middle-income countries. Here we employ data from the World Mental Health surveys...

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Autores: Stein, Dan J., Alonso Caballero, Jordi, World Mental Health Survey collaborators
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Recursos:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/71160
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71160
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12916-025-04209-5
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Community epidemiology
Global mental health
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
World Mental Health surveys
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dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys
title Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys
spellingShingle Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys
Stein, Dan J.
Community epidemiology
Global mental health
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
World Mental Health surveys
title_short Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys
title_full Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys
title_fullStr Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys
title_full_unstemmed Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys
title_sort Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Stein, Dan J.
Alonso Caballero, Jordi
World Mental Health Survey collaborators
author Stein, Dan J.
author_facet Stein, Dan J.
Alonso Caballero, Jordi
World Mental Health Survey collaborators
author_role author
author2 Alonso Caballero, Jordi
World Mental Health Survey collaborators
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Community epidemiology
Global mental health
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
World Mental Health surveys
topic Community epidemiology
Global mental health
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
World Mental Health surveys
description Background: National surveys have suggested that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a prevalent and impairing condition. However, there are few cross-national data on OCD, with data particularly scarce in low- and middle-income countries. Here we employ data from the World Mental Health surveys to characterize the onset, course, severity, and treatment of OCD across a range of countries in different geographic regions of the world. Methods: Data came from general population surveys carried out in 10 countries (Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Iraq, Poland, People's Republic of China, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain) using a consistent research protocol and interview. A total of 26,136 adults were assessed for OCD in face-to-face interviews and were included in the present analyses. We examined lifetime and 12-month prevalence as well as age of onset, persistence, severity, and treatment of DSM-IV OCD in six high-income countries (HICs) and four low- or middle-income countries (LMICs). We also investigated socio-demographic variables and temporally prior mental disorders as predictors of OCD onset, persistence, severity, and treatment. Results: Across the 10 countries surveyed, OCD has a combined lifetime prevalence of 4.1%. The 12-month prevalence (3.0%) is nearly as high, suggesting a highly persistent course of illness. Age of onset is early, with more than 80% of OCD cases beginning by early adulthood. Most OCD cases in the community are mild (47.0%) or very mild (27.5%), with a smaller percentage designated as moderate (22.9%) or severe (2.7%) by the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Only 19.8% of respondents with OCD received any mental health treatment in the past year, with treatment rates much higher in HICs (40.5%) than LMICs (7.0%). Cross-nationally, OCD commonly emerges in adolescence or early adulthood against a backdrop of earlier-occurring mental disorders. With few exceptions (e.g., prior social phobia), the socio-demographic and psychopathological risk factors for OCD onset, persistence, severity, and treatment are distinct. Conclusions: These cross-national data underscore clinical lessons regarding the importance of early diagnosis of OCD and comprehensive evaluation of comorbidity; draw attention to OCD as an undertreated disorder, particularly in LMIC contexts; and emphasize the public health significance of this often-overlooked condition.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
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dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71160
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12916-025-04209-5
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71160
url http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71160
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12916-025-04209-5
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv BMC Med. 2025 Jul 9;23(1):416
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
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dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv BioMed Central
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dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
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spelling Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveysStein, Dan J.Alonso Caballero, JordiWorld Mental Health Survey collaboratorsCommunity epidemiologyGlobal mental healthObsessive-compulsive disorderWorld Mental Health surveysBackground: National surveys have suggested that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a prevalent and impairing condition. However, there are few cross-national data on OCD, with data particularly scarce in low- and middle-income countries. Here we employ data from the World Mental Health surveys to characterize the onset, course, severity, and treatment of OCD across a range of countries in different geographic regions of the world. Methods: Data came from general population surveys carried out in 10 countries (Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Iraq, Poland, People's Republic of China, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain) using a consistent research protocol and interview. A total of 26,136 adults were assessed for OCD in face-to-face interviews and were included in the present analyses. We examined lifetime and 12-month prevalence as well as age of onset, persistence, severity, and treatment of DSM-IV OCD in six high-income countries (HICs) and four low- or middle-income countries (LMICs). We also investigated socio-demographic variables and temporally prior mental disorders as predictors of OCD onset, persistence, severity, and treatment. Results: Across the 10 countries surveyed, OCD has a combined lifetime prevalence of 4.1%. The 12-month prevalence (3.0%) is nearly as high, suggesting a highly persistent course of illness. Age of onset is early, with more than 80% of OCD cases beginning by early adulthood. Most OCD cases in the community are mild (47.0%) or very mild (27.5%), with a smaller percentage designated as moderate (22.9%) or severe (2.7%) by the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Only 19.8% of respondents with OCD received any mental health treatment in the past year, with treatment rates much higher in HICs (40.5%) than LMICs (7.0%). Cross-nationally, OCD commonly emerges in adolescence or early adulthood against a backdrop of earlier-occurring mental disorders. With few exceptions (e.g., prior social phobia), the socio-demographic and psychopathological risk factors for OCD onset, persistence, severity, and treatment are distinct. Conclusions: These cross-national data underscore clinical lessons regarding the importance of early diagnosis of OCD and comprehensive evaluation of comorbidity; draw attention to OCD as an undertreated disorder, particularly in LMIC contexts; and emphasize the public health significance of this often-overlooked condition.BioMed Central202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/71160http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12916-025-04209-5http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71160reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésBMC Med. 2025 Jul 9;23(1):416© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:10230/711602026-05-29T05:05:01Z
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