Postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder: prevalence and clinical characteristics
published online 21 January 2009.
Abstract
Objective
The principal aims of this study were to examine the prevalence rate, clinical characteristics, and related factors of postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Method
The subjects were a nonclinical sample of 400 postpartum women. They were interviewed from the 2nd up to the 26th week after birth. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used for diagnosis of OCD, the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Checklist was used to determine the types of obsessions and compulsions, and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders was used to diagnose comorbid depressive episode.
Results
Thirty-six (9%) of the sample met the diagnostic criteria for OCD according to the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, and 9 (2.3%) reported postpartum onset OCD. Obsessive-compulsive disorder was more frequent in mothers with personal history of previous psychiatric disorder, somatic disease, or obstetric complication in pregnancy/birth, and who were multiparous. The most common obsessions were aggressive, contamination and miscellaneous, and compulsion for washing/cleaning and checking, and 38.9% have a comorbid depressive episode.
Conclusion
Women have increased risk of OCD or obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the postpartum period. For this reason, all women, particularly women with previous psychiatric history, somatic disease, or with complications in pregnancy or at the birth should be carefully screened for OCD in the postpartum period.
aDepartment of Neuropsychiatry of Federal University Pernambuco, Recife 50670901, Brazil
bFederal University Pernambuco, Recife 50670901, Brazil
Corresponding author.
Approved by a Human Subjects Review Committee and subjects participated with informed, voluntary, written consent.
ABSTRACT