Obsessive compulsive disorder in Lahore-based population: a survey of social factors

ABSTRACT

To study the sociodemographic factors, age of onset, patterns of presentation and attitudes of family members towards Obsessive compulsive disorders in a sample drawn from patients from an urban population. It is an observational study of patients with OCD reporting to tertiary care psychiatric units of general hospitals. The sample is from an ongoing multicenter study being jointly conducted at five tertiary care general hospitals. Patients included in the study are those who reported in the initial eight weeks [October to November 2000] of the onset of the study. Forty consecutive patients who fulfilled the ICD 10 criteria of OCD were included irrespective of their age, gender or social class. The sociodemographic data was compiled on a structured form while the complaints and attitudes of the relatives towards the illness were recorded verbatim. The sample shows no gender difference in proportion, a mean age of onset of 22.6 years with a preponderance of females in onset before the age of twenty years. No significant relationship has been found with family size or birth order. The "first born, only child" phenomena described in the West has not been found. Two-third patients reported to psychiatrists within five years of onset of symptoms. Attitude of the family was overwhelmingly sympathetic and empathetic. Obsessions with religious content and fears of the life hereafter and compulsions of washing and cleaning rituals were the commonest. The study shows significant differences in the sociodemographic profile from the West in form of absence of the 'first-born, first child phenomena', a relatively early referral to the psychiatrists, and religious content in symptoms. A positive attitude is observed amongst families of OCD patients towards the disease and the sufferer