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Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: Influence of Age at Onset on Comorbidity Patterns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2008

Maria Alice de Mathis ,
Maria Conceição do Rosario ,
Juliana Belo Diniz ,
Albina Rodrigues Torres ,
Roseli Gedanki Shavitt ,
Ygor Arzeno Ferrão ,
Victor Fossaluza ,
Carlos Alberto de Bragança Pereira  and
Eurípedes Constantino Miguel
Maria Alice de Mathis*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, 785, 05403-010São Paulo, SP, Brazil ObsessiveeCompulsive Disorder Brazilian Consortium (C-TOC), Brazil
Maria Conceição do Rosario
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, 785, 05403-010São Paulo, SP, Brazil ObsessiveeCompulsive Disorder Brazilian Consortium (C-TOC), Brazil Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Juliana Belo Diniz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, 785, 05403-010São Paulo, SP, Brazil ObsessiveeCompulsive Disorder Brazilian Consortium (C-TOC), Brazil
Albina Rodrigues Torres
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Botucatu Medical School, Brazil ObsessiveeCompulsive Disorder Brazilian Consortium (C-TOC), Brazil
Roseli Gedanki Shavitt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, 785, 05403-010São Paulo, SP, Brazil ObsessiveeCompulsive Disorder Brazilian Consortium (C-TOC), Brazil
Ygor Arzeno Ferrão
Affiliation:
Porto Alegre Institute University Center, Brazil ObsessiveeCompulsive Disorder Brazilian Consortium (C-TOC), Brazil
Victor Fossaluza
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, 785, 05403-010São Paulo, SP, Brazil Math and Stat Institute, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Carlos Alberto de Bragança Pereira
Affiliation:
Math and Stat Institute, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Eurípedes Constantino Miguel
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, 785, 05403-010São Paulo, SP, Brazil ObsessiveeCompulsive Disorder Brazilian Consortium (C-TOC), Brazil
*
∗Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, 785, Room 7, 05403-010 São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Tel.: +55 11 3069 7896; fax: +55 11 3069 7895. E-mail address: alicedemathis@gmail.com (M.A. de Mathis).
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Abstract

Purpose.

This study investigates the influence of age at onset of OCS on psychiatric comorbidities, and tries to establish a cut-off point for age at onset.

Methods.

Three hundred and thirty OCD patients were consecutively recruited and interviewed using the following structured interviews: Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale; Yale Global Tic Severity Scale and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Data were analyzed with regression and cluster analysis.

Results.

Lower age at onset was associated with a higher probability of having comorbidity with tic, anxiety, somatoform, eating and impulse–control disorders. Longer illness duration was associated with lower chance of having tics. Female gender was associated with anxiety, eating and impulse–control disorders. Tic disorders were associated with anxiety disorders and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. No cut-off age at onset was found to clearly divide the sample in homogeneous subgroups. However, cluster analyses revealed that differences started to emerge at the age of 10 and were more pronounced at the age of 17, suggesting that these were the best cut-off points on this sample.

Conclusions.

Age at onset is associated with specific comorbidity patterns in OCD patients. More prominent differences are obtained when analyzing age at onset as an absolute value.

Keywords

Obsessive–compulsive disorderAge at onsetComorbidityEarly onsetLate onset

Information

Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , April 2008 , pp. 187 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2008

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