Phenomenology of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Observation in Bangladesh

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a distressful disorder in children and adolescents. However, it has been poorly studied in Bangladesh.

This study was conducted to look into the phenomenology of OCD in children and adolescents in Bangladesh.

This descriptive cross- sectional study was conducted in a child mental health consultation center in Bangladesh from January 2014 to December 2014. A total of 106 OCD cases were included purposively. Assessment was done using standardized Bangla version of Development and well-being assessment and children’s Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale.

Of the obsessions, miscellaneous obsession was found to be the most prevalent among the participants, followed by contamination; and of the compulsions, washing/cleaning was the most prevalent, followed by checking, miscellaneous obsessions, repeating, and ordering rituals. About half of the participants had severe OCD, and comorbidity was present in 45.3%. Hyperkinetic disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, and tic disorder were more prevalent.

Miscellaneous and contamination obsessions are prominent as obsessions, whereas checking and miscellaneous obsessions are prominent as compulsions in Bangladesh. Further larger scale, multi- centered, or community-based studies would help generalize the results.