Rasmussen S A, Eisen J L
Department of Psychiatry, Brown University Program of Medicine, Providence, R.I.
J Clin Psychiatry. 1990 Feb;51 Suppl:10-3; discussion 14.
Until the early 1980s, the only estimate of the prevalence of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in the general population was 0.05%. Data collected from the Epidemiology Catchment Area (ECA) survey have suggested that OCD is 50 to 100 times more common than previously believed and twice as common as schizophrenia or panic disorder in the general population. These results have been corroborated in a second, more carefully designed epidemiologic study. Several reasons account for the previous underestimation of the prevalence of the disorder: (1) reluctance of patients to divulge their symptoms; (2) lack of recognition of the diversity of presenting symptoms in OCD by professionals; (3) misdiagnosis; (4) failure to ask OCD screening questions in the routine mental status examination. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the disorder have been consistent across studies and time, supporting the validity of current nosologic criteria and the disorder's relative homogeneity. OCD appears to be familial, suggesting that genetic factors play a prominent role in the phenotypic expression of illness.
直到20世纪80年代初，对普通人群中强迫症（OCD）患病率的唯一估计为0.05%。从流行病学集水区（ECA）调查收集的数据表明，强迫症在普通人群中的常见程度比之前认为的高50至100倍，是精神分裂症或惊恐障碍的两倍。这些结果在第二项设计更严谨的流行病学研究中得到了证实。造成之前对该疾病患病率低估的原因有几个：（1）患者不愿透露其症状；（2）专业人员未认识到强迫症呈现症状的多样性；（3）误诊；（4）在常规精神状态检查中未询问强迫症筛查问题。该疾病的人口统计学和临床特征在不同研究和不同时期一直保持一致，这支持了当前疾病分类标准的有效性以及该疾病相对的同质性。强迫症似乎具有家族性，这表明遗传因素在疾病的表型表达中起着重要作用。
