While the rates of full OCD are pretty consistent across different countries and age groups, the rates of milder OCD symptoms vary a lot more – anywhere from 2% to 19% of people. This big difference might be because the studies looked at different age groups and were done in different countries. One study found that mild symptoms were about equally common in women (9.3%) and men (10.1%). But two studies of teenagers found that girls had higher rates of mild symptoms than boys, while one study of children found that boys were more likely than girls to have at least one OCD symptom.

Prevalence of Mild OCD Symptoms

When looking at gender differences, past studies of children usually found more boys with OCD than girls. But studies of adults either found equal numbers of men and women, or more women than men. Recent research supports this pattern – OCD seems to affect more boys in childhood but more girls and women as people get older.

Wesleyan University

OCD affects approximately 1-3% of the population. In one of the biggest studies done in the USA, they found that 2.3% of adults had OCD at some point in their lives, and 1.2% had it in the past year. Other recent studies of both adults and teenagers have found similar numbers. These rates are fairly similar across different countries.

Prevalence of OCD

Mathes, B.M., Morabito, D.M. & Schmidt, N.B. Epidemiological and Clinical Gender Differences in OCD. Curr Psychiatry Rep 21, 36 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-1015-2

Reference for “ Epidemiological and Clinical Gender Differences in OCD”

A public health official is preparing a community awareness campaign and needs to accurately describe the frequency of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) to the public. Based on large-scale population studies, which statement best analyzes and communicates the prevalence of this condition?

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