Women Are at Greater Risk of OCD Than Men: A Meta-Analytic Review of OCD Prevalence Worldwide
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the worldwide prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), examine whether women are at greater risk than men, and explore other potential moderators of OCD prevalence to explain variability in community-based epidemiologic studies. DATA SOURCES: An electronic search of PsycINFO and PubMed was conducted until January 2017, without date or language restrictions, using the keywords OCD, epidemiology, and prevalence. The search was supplemented by articles referenced in the obtained sources and relevant reviews. STUDY SELECTION: Studies were included if they reported current, period, and/or lifetime OCD prevalence (diagnosed according to an interview based on DSM or ICD criteria) in representative community samples of adults aged 18 years or older. A total of 4,045 studies were retrieved, with 34 studies ultimately included. DATA EXTRACTION: OCD prevalence was extracted from each study alongside 9 moderators: gender, year, response rate, region, economic status, diagnostic criteria, diagnostic interview, interviewer, and age. RESULTS: The overall aggregate current, period, and lifetime OCD prevalence estimates were 1.1%, 0.8%, and 1.3%, respectively. In a typical sample, women were 1.6 times more likely to experience OCD compared to men, with lifetime prevalence rates of 1.5% in women and 1.0% in men. There was also a trend toward younger adults' being more likely to experience OCD in their lifetime than older adults. All findings demonstrated moderate heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: Women are typically at greater risk of experiencing OCD in their lifetime than men.
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Women are 1.6 times more likely to experience OCD relative to men.
“women are 1.6 times more likely to experience OCD relative to men [74]”
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Luginaah, N. A., Batung, E. S., Ziegler, B. R., Amoak, D., Trudell, J. P., Arku, G., & Luginaah, I. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20237095 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“Potential reasons for these gender-based differences may be partly explained by cultural norms and gender roles that may influence women’s affinity with cleanliness and good health, which may influence OCD symptoms among women [60].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialPozza, A., Ragucci, F., Angelo, N. L., Pugi, D., Cuomo, A., García-Hernández, M. D., Alcázar, A. I. R., Fagiolini, A. M., & Starčević, V. (2024) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.02.031 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Psilocybin reduces grooming in the SAPAP3 knockout mouse model of compulsive behaviour
Gattuso, J. J., Wilson, C., Hannan, A. J., & Renoir, T. (2024) · Neuropharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2024.110202 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
The Cost of Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder in Swedish Youth
Lenhard, F., Aspvall, K., Andersson, E., Åhlén, J., Serlachius, E., Lavner, M., Brodin, A., & Mataix‐Cols, D. (2021) · Child Psychiatry & Human Development · doi:10.1007/s10578-021-01261-z · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Cohen, S. E., Niemeijer, M. J., Zantvoord, J. B., van Wingen, G. A., Mocking, R. J. T., & Denys, D. A. J. P. (2025) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-025-03092-z · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Jelinek, L., Schröder, J., Bücker, L., Miegel, F., Baumeister, A., Moritz, S., Sibilis, A., & Schultz, J. (2023) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.038 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Exploring the clinical features of postpartum obsessive-compulsive disorder- a systematic review
Ferra, I., Bragança, M., & Moreira, R. (2024) · The European Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ejpsy.2023.100232 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Drakes, D. H., Fawcett, E. J., Yick, J. J. J., Coles, A. R. L., Seim, R. B., Miller, K., LaSaga, M. S., & Fawcett, J. M. (2025) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.03.020 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationBuissonnière-Ariza, V. L., Guzick, A. G., Schneider, S. C., Cepeda, S. L., Goodman, W. K., & Storch, E. A. (2022) · Journal of Psychiatric Practice · doi:10.1097/pra.0000000000000597 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“Specifically, we: (1) examined the factor structure of the FAS-PV using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA); (2) assessed the internal consistency of the total scale and the 4 subscales;”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialPsychedelics, OCD and related disorders: A systematic review
Graziosi, M., Rohde, J. S., Tiwari, P., Siev, J., & Yaden, D. B. (2024) · Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2024.100873 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Lounici, A., Iacob, A., Hongler, K., Mölling, M. A., Drechsler, M., Hersberger, L., Sethi, S., Lang, U. E., & Liwinski, T. (2024) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu17010031 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Obsessive-compulsive disorder – A state-of-the-art review
Endres, D., Schiele, M. A., von Zedtwitz, K., Dressle, R. J., Maier, A., Hohagen, F., Baldermann, J. C., Coenen, V. A., Jelinek, L., Domschke, K., et al. (2025) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106320 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Kim, H., Wheaton, M. G., Foa, E. B., & Simpson, H. B. (2022) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102711 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Riddle, D. B., Guzick, A. G., Minhajuddin, A., Smárason, O., Armstrong, G. M., Slater, H., Mayes, T. L., Goodman, L. C., Baughn, D. L., Martin, S. L., et al. (2023) · Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2023.100820 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
A neuropsychological study of misophonia
Amitai Abramovitch, A., Herrera, T. A., & Etherton, J. L. (2023) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101897 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“This prevalence rate of OCD within the misophonia group is nearly 8-fold higher than the prevalence in the general population (1.3%; Fawcett, Power, & Fawcett, 2020).”
BackgroundInfluentialWang, Y., Amarnath, A., Miguel, C., Čihařová, M., Lin, J., Zhao, R., Struijs, S. Y., de Wit, L. M., Toffolo, M. B. J., & Cuijpers, P. J. (2024) · Comprehensive Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152453 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Holmberg, A. H., Martinsson, L., Lidin, M., Rück, C., Mataix‐Cols, D., & de la Cruz, L. F. (2024) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-024-05566-w · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common and debilitating mental health disorder affecting around 1–2% of the population [1, 2].”
BackgroundZhang, L., & Takahashi, Y. (2024) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.06.033 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Dhiman, A., Mehan, S., Khan, Z., Tiwari, A., Gupta, G. D., & Narula, A. S. (2024) · Current Gene Therapy · doi:10.2174/0115665232316708240828063527 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
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WashSpot: Real-Time Spotting and Detection of Enacted Compulsive Hand Washing with Wearable Devices
Burchard, R., Scholl, P., Lieb, R., Laerhoven, K. V., & Wahl, K. (2022) · ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp) · doi:10.1145/3544793.3563428 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Myers, N. S., Juel, E. K., Friedman, J. B., Ojalehto, H. J., Tadross, M. E., DuBois, C. M., Amitai Abramovitch, A., McKay, D., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2024) · Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2024.100875 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Gattuso, J. J., Kong, G., Bezcioglu, B., Lu, D., Ekwudo, M. N., Wilson, C., Gubert, C., Hannan, A. J., & Renoir, T. (2025) · Neuropharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2025.110648 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Xu, J., Ironside, M. L., Broos, H. C., Johnson, S. L., & Timpano, K. R. (2024) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjc.12456 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Brecke, V., Thorsen, A. L., Ousdal, O. T., Vriend, C., Alnæs, D., Hagen, K., Hansen, B. K. A., Kvale, G., & van den Heuvel, O. A. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.674020 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) characterized by intrusive, recurrent mental obsessions followed by various compulsive responses performed in the attempt to neutralize the discomfort (1), with a world-wide estimated prevalence of up to 2% combined with high rates of comorbidity (2).”
BackgroundMethodUnwanted, Intrusive Thoughts of Infant-Related Harm
Fairbrother, N., Martin, R., & Challacombe, F. L. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-91832-3_6 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Varinelli, A., Caricasole, V., Pellegrini, L., Hall, N., Garg, K., Mpavaenda, D., Dell’Osso, B., Albert, U., the International College of Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders (ICOCS) Expert Survey Workgroup, & Fineberg, N. A. (2022) · International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice · doi:10.1080/13651501.2021.1872646 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Baykal, D., Kutlu, L., & Demir, B. (2022) · Journal of Education and Health Promotion · doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_902_21 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“0% in males.[5] The prevalence of lifetime is reported to be 1% and 3.”
Background
- Authors
- Fawcett, E. J., Power, H., & Fawcett, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Memorial University of Newfoundland (CA)
- University of Regina (CA)
- Venue
- The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc
- Published
- 2020-06-23
- Volume
- 81
- Issue
- 4
- ISSN
- 0160-6689 (ISSN-L)
- 1555-2101
- OpenAlex
- W3036538738
- Cited by
- 344
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 62 · 2025: 77 · 2024: 75 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 13.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- obsessive-compulsive disorder, prevalence, sex differences, gender differences, lifetime prevalence, current prevalence, community-based epidemiology, age differences, diagnostic criteria, response rate
- MeSH terms
- Age Factors, Female, Humans, Male, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Prevalence
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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