Disentangling chronological age from age of onset in children and adolescents with obsessive--compulsive disorder.

Although paediatric obsessive--compulsive disorder (OCD) is increasingly recognized as a putative developmental subtype of the disorder, it remains uncertain as to whether additional subtyping by age at onset in childhood or adolescence is warranted. Subjects included children and adolescents meeting DSM-III-R and DSM-IV criteria for OCD referred to a specialized OCD clinic. All youth were systematically evaluated with structured diagnostic interviews and clinical assessment by an OCD expert. Irrespective of current age, an earlier age at onset predicted increased risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, simple phobia, agoraphobia and multiple anxiety disorders. In contrast, mood and psychotic disorders were associated with chronological age and were more prevalent in older subjects. Tourette's disorder showed associations with both chronological age and age at onset. Chronological age and age at onset predicted different patterns of comorbidity and dysfunction in children and adolescents with OCD. Considering the heterogeneity of OCD, age at onset may help identify meaningful developmental subtypes of the disorder beyond chronological age.

Informativeness of structured diagnostic interviews in the identification of Tourette's disorder in referred youth.

Although specialized programs have greatly advanced the treatment of youth with Tourette's disorder (TD), not all children with TD reach such programs, raising questions as to whether TD is adequately identified outside specialized settings. There is thus a need for evidence that cases identified in the nonspecialty setting are "true cases." Because structured diagnostic interview methodology can reduce errors of omission, this approach can facilitate the identification of TD in referred youth outside specialized programs. Similarities between cases ascertained in specialty and nonspecialty settings would suggest that those identified in the nonspecialty setting were indeed "true cases." Comparisons were made between youth with TD ascertained through a specialized TD program who had both a structured diagnostic interview-derived diagnosis of TD plus an expert evaluation of TD (N = 103), with youth ascertained through a non-TD specialized pediatric psychopharmacology program who had a structured diagnostic interview-derived diagnosis of TD (N = 92). Irrespective of ascertainment source, children with structured interview-derived diagnosis of TD shared similar correlates in terms of tic severity, mean age of onset and duration of tics, as well as patterns of comorbidity well known to be associated with TD in clinical samples. Children meeting diagnostic criteria for TD on structured diagnostic interviews share similarities and patterns of clinical correlates, irrespective of ascertainment through a specialized TD or non-TD specialized clinic. These findings support the usefulness of structured diagnostic interview methodology as a diagnostic aid for the identification of TD in non-TD specialized settings and facilitate delineation of patterns of comorbidity.

Clinical correlates of obsessive compulsive disorder in children and adolescents referred to specialized and non-specialized clinical settings.

The objective of this study was to assess the extent of referral bias by comparing children and adolescents with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) ascertained through a specialized pediatric OCD and a general child psychiatry clinic. Subjects were juveniles meeting DSM-III-R and DSM IV criteria for OCD referred to a general pediatric psychopharmacology clinic and to a specialized OCD clinic within the same academic medical center. Subjects were evaluated clinically and with structured diagnostic interviews using the Kiddie SADS-E. OCD was identified in 8.6% of the general psychiatry clinic subjects. The only differences between ascertainment sources in clinical or sociodemographic characteristics of OCD subjects were higher rates of social phobia and ADHD in the non-specialized clinic, while specialty clinic subjects had a greater lifetime severity of OCD and were more likely to have received treatment of their OCD. Because we found limited evidence for referral biases, our results suggest that findings from studies using either of these sources may generalize to the other. It also suggests that pooling subjects from the two sources is justified. Nevertheless, because some group differences did emerge, researchers should acknowledge referral bias as a potential limitation of their work.

Distinguishing illness severity from tic severity in children and adolescents with Tourette's disorder.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether tic severity, comorbid disorders, or both are associated with illness morbidity in youths with Tourette's disorder (TD). METHOD: Subjects were 156 consecutively referred youths (aged 5-20 years) who met DSM-III-R criteria for Tourette's disorder at a major academic medical center. All subjects were evaluated with a clinical interview by a child and adolescent psychiatrist and an assessment battery that included the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Epidemiologic version. Statistical analysis used chi 2 and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Nineteen (12%) of the 156 youths with TD required psychiatric hospitalization. Current age, TD severity, TD duration, obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychosis, major depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and overanxious disorder were significant univariate predictors of psychiatric hospitalization (p < .01). While tic severity was marginally significant as a predictor of psychiatric hospitalization (p < .05), major depression (p < .016) and bipolar disorder (p < .001) were robust predictors of psychiatric hospitalization, even after statistical adjustment for collinearity and correction for all other variables assessed. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that comorbid mood disorders are strongly associated with illness morbidity in youths with TD, highlighting the importance of attention to comorbidity in patients with TD.