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

Background: Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a distressful disorder in children and adolescents. However, it has been poorly studied in Bangladesh. Objectives: This study was conducted to look into the phenomenology of OCD in children and adolescents in Bangladesh. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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.