OCD - Epidemiology


 * OCD: incidence
 * OCD: prevalence
 * OCD: morbidity
 * OCD: mortality
 * OCD: racial distribution
 * OCD: age distribution
 * OCD: sex distribution

Demographic Features of OCD
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder tends to be slightly more common in females than in males. Moreover, females are somewhat more likely to have lifetime prevalence of this disorder than are men (2.9% versus 2.0%). In a 1980s study of 20,000 adults from New Haven, Baltimore, St. Louis, Durham, and Los Angeles, the lifetime prevalence rate of OCD for both genders was recorded at 2.5%.

In regards to education, it was found that the lifetime prevalence of OCD is lower for those that have graduated high school as opposed to those who have not (1.9% versus 3.4%). However, in the case of college education, lifetime prevalence is higher for those who graduate with a degree (3.1%) than it is for those who have only some college background (2.4%). As far as age is concerned, the onset of OCD usually ranges from the late teenage years until the mid-twenties in both genders, but the age of onset tends to be slightly younger in males than in females (Antony, Downie, & Swinson, 1998).