Gender and psychopathology in obsessive compulsive disorder

The gender difference in OCD was studied in 52 patients attending the psychiatric OPD and it was found that 35 (67.30%) patients were males compared to 17 (32.70%) females, which constituted 0.72 % and 1.03% of the male and female patients attending the OPD during the study period, respectively. Hence, inspite of the male preponderance in the study sample, it might not reflect the true prevalence of the disorder in the community.The age of onset for males was lower than that for females, but it did not reach statistical significance. The mean duration of illness for the entire sample was 7.48±7.66 years. The mean duration was found to be significantly longer for females compared to males. The females had higher obsessive, compulsive and total scores on YBOCS indicating a more severe psychopathology. All female patients had compulsions compared to 25.71 % males who had no compulsions. Females had increased frequency of obsessive rumination with obsessions of dirt and contamination along with compulsive washing. An interesting finding was that obsessive imagery with obsessions of sex and religion along with repeating rituals were found exclusively in males.A high celibacy rate was found amongst the males. There was no difference in the family history between the males and females.