Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Methodol. Jan 20, 2022; 12(1): 54-63
Published online Jan 20, 2022. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v12.i1.54
Phenomenology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents: Sample from a tertiary care center in Istanbul, Turkey
Anil Cifter, Ayse Burcu Erdogdu
Anil Cifter, School of Medicine, Marmara University, Istanbul 34899, Turkey
Ayse Burcu Erdogdu, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Marmara University, Istanbul 34899, Turkey
Author contributions: Cifter A and Erdogdu AB designed the project and created data collection tools; Cifter A examined the patient files; Cifter A and Erdogdu AB did the analysis, interpreted the data and wrote the paper for publication; Erdogdu AB critically revised the paper.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by the Marmara University School of Medicine Clinical Research Ethics Committee (Protocol No: 09.2019.360, date: April 5, 2019).
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from parents or legal guardians of the patients.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None declared.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Anil Cifter, MD, School of Medicine, Marmara University, Marmara University Training and Research Hospital, Fevzi Çakmak Mah. Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu Cad. No. 10 Üst Kaynarca/Pendik, Istanbul 34899, Turkey. anilcifter.de@gmail.com
Received: June 10, 2021
Peer-review started: June 10, 2021
First decision: July 31, 2021
Revised: August 5, 2021
Accepted: December 2, 2021
Article in press: December 2, 2021
Published online: January 20, 2022
Processing time: 220 Days and 14.5 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

As a disease with heterogeneous features in many respects, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) shows variability in terms of phenomenology.

Research motivation

Phenomenology of obsessions and compulsions are affected by many structural and environmental factors and shows several different characteristics in children compared to adults.

Research objectives

To identify the most common phenomenological subgroups of pediatric OCD and to determine the relationship of these subgroups with familial and clinical characteristics of children and the treatment response.

Research methods

Data of 150 children and adolescents, who had been diagnosed with OCD between 2014 and 2018, were examined retrospectively.

Research results

Contamination obsession was observed more frequently in the prepubertal age group, whereas religious obsessions were more frequent in adolescents. The treatment response deteriorated with the increase in severity of disease and the age of admission.

Research conclusions

Variations in phenomenology of obsessions are found in terms of age groups. The response to pharmacotherapy was found to be better in patients in the prepubertal age group and with lower severity of disease.

Research perspectives

Earlier diagnosis and therapeutic interventions in OCD may limit the impairment of mental health of children and adolescents.