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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2001) 179: 324-329
© 2001 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Prevalence of obsessive—compulsive disorder in the British nationwide survey of child mental health

ISOBEL HEYMAN, MRCPsych

ERIC FOMBONNE, FRCPsych, HELEN SIMMONS, MRCPsych and TAMSIN FORD, MRCPsych

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London

HOWARD MELTZER, PhD

Office for National Statistics, London

ROBERT GOODMAN, FRCPsych

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London

Correspondence: Isobel Heyman, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Tel: 020 7848 0481 ; fax: 020 7708 5800; e-mail: i.heyman{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None; the epidemiological study was funded by the Department of Health.

Background Obsessive—compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disorder that appears to be underdiagnosed and undertreated, despite the evidence for effective treatments. There are variable estimates of OCD prevalence in the under-16s and published rates give little indication of age trends.

Aims To establish the prevalence and associates of OCD in young people aged 5-15 years.

Method A nationwide (UK) epidemiological study of rates of psychiatric disorder in 5- to 15-year-olds (1999 British Child Mental Health Survey): 10 438 children were assessed.

Results Twenty-five children with OCD were identified (weighted overall prevalence 0.25%; 95% CI 0.14-0.35), with prevalence rising exponentially with increasing age. Compared with normal controls, children with OCD were more likely to be from lower socio-economic class and of lower intelligence. Only three of these children had been seen by specialist children's services.

Conclusions Although OCD is rare in young children, the rate increases towards the adult rates at puberty. Children with OCD have additional psychosocial disadvantage. The majority of the childhood cases identified in this survey appear to have been undetected and untreated.


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