Epidemiology: Introduction, Definition and Obesity

In the last decade, the prevalence of OCD symptoms in the general population has been found to be remarkably high. Until 1984, the most quoted figure was 0.05% . However, since 1984, at least three studies carried out in North America found the prevalence of OCD in the general population to be greater than 2%. ) found a prevalence figure of 2.5%, found a figure of 3.0% and of 2.5% of OCD prevalence in the general population. The prevalence of OCD in countries other than North America has also been examined. A major study carried out by Weissmann et al. over four different continents examined the prevalence of OCD across the globe. This study found OCD prevalence to be approximately 2% in the United States, Canada, Latin America and Puerto Rico. The findings were the same in Europe and New Zealand, while in Asia and Korea, OCD prevalence was found to be 1.9%, and in Taiwan 0.7%. Therefore, with the exception of Taiwan, where the prevalence of all psychiatric disorders is relatively low, OCD prevalence worldwide is approximately 2%. This finding defines OCD as a global problem, as the estimated total number of patients who suffer from the disorder worldwide appears to be at least 50 million. Additional demographic findings from this study-the Cross National Collaborative Study - show the mean age of onset of OCD to be roughly in the twenties; female-to-male ratio to be roughly 1: 2; and the course of OCD to be usually chronic.

The high prevalence of OCD has been confirmed across different cultures in additional studies, including in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Finland, Germany, Israel, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and New Zealand . The prevalence of OCD among children and adolescents appears to be as high as among adults . However, it should be noted that not all the authors agree with these figures. For example, and have suggested that diagnosis of OCD by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and by laypersons leads to overdiagnosis, and proposed lower prevalence rates of 1-2%. A further question which may be examined regards the influence of culture on the content of obsessions in different countries. Various studies carried out in the United States, India, England, Japan, Denmark and Israel, among OCD sufferers, revealed the content of obsessions to be relatively similar across locations. The most common obsession across these six countries, regardless of cultural background, appears to be the obsession with dirt or contamination. The second most common obsession is harm or aggression, the third is somatic, the fourth, religious and the last being sexual obsessions. It appears, therefore, that the content of obsessions is remarkably similar regardless of cultural or geographic location.

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