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.