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Naturalistic Study of Referred Children and Adolescents With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

NCJ Number
210863
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 44 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2005 Pages: 673-681
Author(s)
Gabriele Masi M.D.; Stefania Millepiedi M.D.; Maria Mucci M.D.; Nicoletta Bertini M.D.; Luca Milantoni M.D.; Francesca Arcangeli M.D.
Date Published
July 2005
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study reports on clinical features, comorbidity, and response to pharmacotherapy in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who were being treated with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs).
Abstract
This was a naturalistic study in the sense that it involved outcomes from routine care of a consecutive sample of patients who were not selected or treated under a predetermined research methodology. The 94 patients (65 males and 29 females), ages between 7 and 18, were referred to the authors' Pediatric Psychopharmacology Service as inpatients or outpatients in the period January 2001-April 2004. OCD was determined with the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents-Revised. Patients were monitored for approximately 10 months. Over this period, contamination obsessions and washing rituals were associated with less impairment than other subtypes of OCD. Aggressive sexual obsessions and checking rituals as well as symmetry obsessions and ordering-repeating rituals were more often co-occurring with tic disorders. The Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale indicated that 63 patients (67 percent) responded to treatment. Those who did not were more severely impaired and had a higher number of comorbid disorders, namely, bipolar disorder and conduct disorder. Forty-seven patients (50 percent) received only SRI, and the other 50 percent required additional medications. Patients who received only SRI were less severely impaired; had a later onset of OCD; were at a younger age at the first visit; had higher rates of depression and anxiety; and had lower rates of bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder. 5 tables and 30 references