Late-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder: Risk factors and correlates

Background: While a great amount of attention has been paid to early-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), there is a dearth of studies on patients showing OCD for the first time at later stages of life. in this study, we aimed at determining possible risk factors/correlates for OCD onset at or after age 40, here termed late-onset OCD.Method: A series of models including several potential variables associated with late onset OCD were tested using a monolayer neural network. To this regard, data from the Brazilian Research Consortium of Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (CTOC) (n = 1001) was employed. for the purposes of this study, we considered a diagnosis of late onset OCD to be present whenever distress and interference associated with OCD symptoms emerged at or after age 40. Different nested models were compared through the Akaike Criteria keeping the variables with p value 10 years) subclinical obsessive-compulsive symptoms, the co-occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after age 40, and a history of recent pregnancy in self or significant others was able to explain a sizeable proportion of late-onset OCD. the general performance of this model, represented by the Maximum Likelihood R2, was 29.4%.Conclusion: Our results suggest that late-onset OCD is more likely to occur in females, in individuals with long periods of subclinical obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and in association with a major traumatic event occurring after age 40 and a history of recent pregnancy in self or in significant others. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Univ Fed Rio de Janeiro, Inst Psychiat, Anxiety & Depress Res Program, BR-22640102 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BrazilDOr Inst Res & Educ, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, Botucatu Med Sch, Dept Neurol Psychol & Psychiat, Sao Jose Do Rio Preto, SP, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Psychiat, BR-05508 São Paulo, BrazilHlth Sci Fed Univ Porto Alegre, Dept Psychiat, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychiat, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Fluminense, Inst Community Hlth, Dept Psychiat & Mental Hlth, BR-24220000 Niteroi, RJ, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychiat, São Paulo, BrazilCNPq: CNPq 420.122/2005-2Web of Scienc