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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 [74]”
From The Cyclical Battle of Insomnia and Mental Health Impairment in Firefighters: A Narrative Review (2024) · cites this paper as [74]
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Cohen, S. E., de Boer, A., Storosum, B. W. C., Mattila, T. K., Niemeijer, M. J., GELLER, D. A., Denys, D. A. J. P., & Zantvoord, J. B. (2025) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2025.01.001 · Cited by 9
Snaychuk, L. A., Ferrão, Y. A., Fontenelle, L. F., Miguel, E. C., de Mathis, M. A., Scanavino, M. D. T., & Kim, H. S. A. (2022) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-022-02412-6 · Cited by 11
An ultra-brief screening scale for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder: The OCI-CV-5
Amitai Abramovitch, A., Abramowitz, J. S., McKay, D., Cham, H., Anderson, K. S., Farrell, L. J., GELLER, D. A., Hanna, G. L., Mathieu, S. L., Mcguire, J. F., et al. (2022) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.06.009 · Cited by 9
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a prevalent and burdensome psychological condition affecting 1 – 2 % of the population (Fawcett et al., 2020; Ruscio et al., 2010).”
BackgroundThe Cyclical Battle of Insomnia and Mental Health Impairment in Firefighters: A Narrative Review
Holland-Winkler, A. M., Greene, D. R., & Oberther, T. J. (2024) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm13082169 · Cited by 9
“Further, a recent meta-analysis highlights the notion that women are 1.6 times more likely to experience OCD relative to men [74].”
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“Background Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder with an estimated prevalence of 1–3% in the general population [1, 2].”
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“Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common and profoundly debilitating neuropsychiatric condition affecting approximately 1.3% of the general population [1].”
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Exposure Therapy in Mixed Reality for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
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Benchmarking empirical severity for the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale-Second Edition
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“…& Saules, 2019; Durkee et al., 2016; Lanthier-Labonté et al., 2020; Wartberg et al., 2016) Anxiety disorders are significantly higher among females (Fawcett et al., 2020), and tobacco use has significantly increased among girls in several countries (GBD 2016 Alcohol and Drug Use Col-laborators,…”
da Silva, D. R., Maia, A., Cotovio, G., Oliveira, J., Oliveira-Maia, A. J., & Barahona-Corrêa, B. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1050480 · Cited by 9
“3%, and is a major contributor to the health-economic burden of mental disorders (1, 2).”
BackgroundOpening new vistas on obsessive-compulsive disorder with the observing response task
Pickenhan, L., & Milton, A. L. (2024) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-023-01153-w · Cited by 10
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric illness with a lifetime prevalence of 3.5%, affecting more 5.4% of women and 1.7% of men (Angst et al., 2004; Fawcett et al., 2020).”
BackgroundInfluentialThe psychosocial and educational burden of obsessive-compulsive disorder in youth
Amitai Abramovitch, A., Duncan, B., Schuyler, M., & GELLER, D. A. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.09.022 · Cited by 8
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common and potentially debilitating condition affecting approximately 1 – 2 % of adults and 1 – 3 % of children and adolescents (Fawcett et al., 2020; Flament et al., 1988; Rapoport et al., 2000).”
Almadani, A. H., Alabdulkarim, I. M., Akresh, M. I., Alassaf, M. I., Alkathiri, M. A., Alkublan, K. M., Aldoghmani, R. A., Alghtani, Y., & Alwaily, S. A. (2024) · Medicine · doi:10.1097/md.0000000000040217 · Cited by 12
“Moreover, our results were consistent with those of a broader meta-analysis, [39] which found that women were 1.6 times more likely to experience OCD than men.”
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“The prevalence of OCD was 27.5% among our cohort, which is higher than the lifetime prevalence of OCD of 1.3% [47] reported in the general population.”
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“In terms of lifetime prevalence, women are 1.6 times more likely to experience obsessive-compulsive disorder compared to men [31].”
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Examination of Initial Evidence for EMDR as a Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
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“…(EMDR); review; treatment O bsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debil-itating psychological disorder that holds a life-time prevalence estimate of approximately 1.3% (Fawcett et al., 2020), meaning that globally, over 100 million people will meet diagnostic criteria for OCD during their lives.”
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Loneliness in OCD and its determinants
Friedman-Ezra, A., Keydar-Cohen, K., van Oppen, P., Eikelenboom, M., Schruers, K. R. J., & Anholt, G. E. (2024) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115963 · Cited by 8
An Investigation into the Impact of Pre-Adolescent Training on Canine Behavior
Dinwoodie, I. R., Zottola, V., & Dodman, N. H. (2021) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani11051298 · Cited by 7
“That result concurs with what has recently been reported for the human population, that is, that the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in women is about 50% greater than in men [29].”
ResultWang, G., Si, T., Imperato, J. S., Yang, L., Zou, K. H., Jin, Y., Pappadopulos, E. A., Yan, L., Li, J. Z., & Yu, W. (2021) · International Journal of Clinical Practice · doi:10.1111/ijcp.14522 · Cited by 8
“Cohort (1): 1 × 50 mg/d; Cohort (2): 1 × 100 mg/d; Cohort (3): 2 × 50 mg/d; Cohort”
Brain Waves Characteristics in Individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Preliminary Study
Najafi, T., Jaafar, R., Najafi, K., & Eslamdoust-Siahestalkhi, F. (2022) · International Journal of Online and Biomedical Engineering (iJOE) · doi:10.3991/ijoe.v18i01.26805 · Cited by 7
“6 times to be more likely to experience for women comparing to men [5].”
BackgroundXu, J., Huang, T., & Dana, A. (2023) · Neurological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s10072-023-06614-1 · Cited by 7
“Females are diagnosed at a slightly higher rate than males in adulthood, although males are more commonly affected in childhood [4, 5].”
BackgroundLongitudinal study of gut microbiome in obsessive–compulsive disorder
Chen, L. L., Abbaspour, A., Aspvall, K., Rück, C., Bulik, C. M., & Djurfeldt, D. R. (2023) · Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1002/brb3.3115 · Cited by 7
“Dirichlet-multinomial model was applied for differential abundance analysis using Welch’s t and Wilcoxon rank test in ALDEx2 (Fernandes et al., 2013; Gloor et al., 2016).”
Altwaijri, Y. A., Stein, D. J., Akkad, M., Bilal, L., Naseem, M. T., Al‐Subaie, A., Alhabeeb, A. A., & Kessler, R. C. (2024) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2024.102856 · Cited by 7
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An effectiveness study of intensive outpatient treatment for OCD
Juel, E. K., Rogers, K., Hadlock, S., Myers, N. S., Friedman, J. B., Tadross, M. E., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2024) · Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2024.100931 · Cited by 6
The Relationship between OCD and Depression in Adults: A Review of Recent Findings
Pastre, M., Raffard, S., Mallet, L., & López‐Castromán, J. (2025) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-025-01589-6 · Cited by 9
“Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a frequent and incapacitating condition, affecting around 1.3% of peo - ple worldwide, with a higher mean lifetime prevalence in women compared with men [ 1].”
InfluentialMiegel, F. S., Scheunemann, J., Pampuch, S., Schultz, J., Hansen, B. K. A., Hagen, K., Gallinat, J., Zapf, A., Yassari, A. H., & Jelinek, L. (2025) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000545178 · Cited by 7
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents: Early Detection in Primary Care Settings
Zalpuri, I., Matzke, M., & Joshi, S. V. (2024) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.2024-069121 · Cited by 6
Reappraising beliefs about losing control: An experimental investigation
Fridgen, C. P. E. A., & Radomsky, A. S. (2025) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2024.102004 · Cited by 8
Moreau, A. L., Hansen, I. S., & Bogdan, R. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1432253 · Cited by 6
Bozzatello, P., Novelli, R., Schisano, R., Brasso, C., Rocca, P., & Bellino, S. (2025) · Pharmaceuticals · doi:10.3390/ph18050665 · Cited by 7
“OCD affects between 1% and 2% of the world’s population [134], with significant social and economic costs.”
SAPAP3, SPRED2, and obsessive-compulsive disorder: the search for fundamental phenotypes
Rajkumar, R. P. (2023) · Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnmol.2023.1095455 · Cited by 6
McLauchlan, J., Thompson, E. M., Ferrão, Y. A., Miguel, E. C., Albertella, L., Marazziti, D., & Fontenelle, L. F. (2021) · CNS Spectrums · doi:10.1017/s1092852921000444 · Cited by 7
“The authors have also provided a cutoff score for each category to denote symptoms within the “normal ranges” (1-10), “mild mood disturbances” (11-16) to the more severe end of the spectrum, and “extreme depression” (over 40).”
BackgroundSteinberg, J. S., Morris, S. H., & Jaffee, S. R. (2023) · Child Psychiatry & Human Development · doi:10.1007/s10578-023-01548-3 · Cited by 6
“Current and lifetime prevalence estimates of OCD are 1.1% and 1.3%, respectively [4], with 34% of individuals with OCD reporting symptom onset before age 14, and 23% reporting the onset of symptoms before age 12 [5].”
InfluentialAnxiety sensitivity in the perinatal period: A scoping review
Zimmermann, M., Mahanna, A., Shashkova, E., Drouhard, R., Carr, C., Sheldrick, R. C., Boudreaux, E. D., Schmidt, N. B., & Byatt, N. (2025) · Mental Health & Prevention · doi:10.1016/j.mhp.2025.200397 · Cited by 6
Hartnett, Y., MacHale, S., & Duffy, R. M. (2025) · BJPsych Advances · doi:10.1192/bja.2025.10163 · Cited by 6
“The sex ratio for obsessive – compulsive disorder (OCD) is similar, with lifetime prevalence of 1.5% for females and 1% for males (Fawcett 2020).”
InfluentialDissecting Psychiatric Heterogeneity and Comorbidity with Core Region-Based Machine Learning
Lv, Q., Zeljic, K., Zhao, S., Zhang, J., Zhang, J., & Wang, Z. (2023) · Neuroscience Bulletin · doi:10.1007/s12264-023-01057-2 · Cited by 5
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a highly complex and disabling psychiatric disorder characterized by obsessions and/or compulsions [5, 6], with a lifetime prevalence of ~ 1% to 2% worldwide [7].”
BackgroundVallani, T., Naqqash, Z., Lin, B., Lu, C., Austin, J., & Stewart, S. E. (2023) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115275 · Cited by 5
Adequacy of treatment in outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder
Cohen, S. E., Storosum, B. W. C., Vulink, N. C. C., de Koning, P. P., Namavar, Y., Zantvoord, J. B., & Denys, D. A. J. P. (2024) · Comprehensive Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152546 · Cited by 6
Time to Reconsider Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
Grant, J., Baldwin, D., & Chamberlain, S. (2021) · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1097/jcp.0000000000001418 · Cited by 1
Matsumoto, K., Hamatani, S., & Shimizu, E. (2024) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2024.100725 · Cited by 5
“Typically, female patients are 1.6 times more likely to experience OCD than their male counterparts (Fawcett et al., 2020).”
BackgroundInfluentialAujla, S., Sandeep, M., Aparnavi, P., Padhi, B. K., Shamim, M. A., Sahoo, S., Gangane, N., & Gandhi, A. P. (2024) · International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics · doi:10.1002/ijgo.15792 · Cited by 8
Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
(2022) · American Psychiatric Association Publishing eBooks · doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787.x06_obsessive_compulsive_and_related_disorders · Cited by 7
Mowla, A., & Baniasadipour, H. (2022) · International Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1097/yic.0000000000000415 · Cited by 5
“Over 1% of the general population worldwide are diagnosed with OCD (Rasmussen and Eisen, 1994; Zohar, 1999; Fawcett et al., 2020), and the lifetime prevalence of this disorder has been reported to be 2–3% among general population (Kessler et al.”
BackgroundJalalifar, E., Arad, A., Rastkar, M., & Beheshti, R. (2023) · Acta Neuropsychiatrica · doi:10.1017/neu.2023.15 · Cited by 6
Externally orienting cues improve cognitive control in OCD
Bednarek, L., Glover, S., Ma, X., Pittenger, C., & Pushkarskaya, H. (2024) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2024.101959 · Cited by 4
Clarifying the prevalence of OCD: A response to reader comments
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“The lifetime prevalence of OCD is estimated to be approximately 1 % – 3 % in the general population [2, 3], with onset typically occurring in early adulthood [4].”
Salehinejad, M. A., Hallajian, A., Wischnewski, M., Aleman, A., Bikson, M., Blumberger, D. M., Brunelin, J., Brunoni, A. R., Daskalakis, Z. J., Nikolin, S., et al. (2026) · Nature Mental Health · doi:10.1038/s44220-026-00590-z · Cited by 6
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“In addition, our sample was mostly female, maybe explainable by the higher prevalence of OCD in women and self-selection biases (Fawcett et al., 2020; Stone et al., 2024).”
Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and related risk and protective factors in Black individuals in Canada
Dromer, É., Jacob, G., Williams, M. T., Farahi, S. M. M. M., Darius, W. P., Kogan, C. S., & Cénat, J. M. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1422900 · Cited by 4
“Worldwide, its prevalence is estimated to be 1.5% in women and 1.0% in men (Fawcett et al., 2020).”
InfluentialSun, N. Y., Pittenger, C., & Ching, T. H. W. (2025) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/60899 · Cited by 7
“OCD is a debilitating condition resulting in significant impairment of quality of life [4] that affects around 2% of adults in the United States, with women being 1.5 times more likely to experience OCD [5].”
InfluentialDeady, C., FitzGerald, J., Kara, N. Z., Mazzocchi, M., O'Mahony, A., Ionescu, M.-I., Shanahan, R., Kelly, S., Crispie, F., Cotter, P. D., et al. (2025) · Brain Behavior & Immunity - Health · doi:10.1016/j.bbih.2025.101065 · Cited by 4
“Yet with that being said, females are more likely to develop OCD, which aligns with the findings in this study (Fawcett et al., 2020).”
Kierońska-Siwak, S., Sokal, P., Jabłońska, M., Rudaś, M., & Bylinka, A. (2022) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci13010044 · Cited by 4
Kühne, F., Hobrecker, L. K., Heinze, P. E., Meißner, C., & Weck, F. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1328850 · Cited by 4
“With a lifetime prevalence of around 1–2% (Kessler et al., 2012; Fawcett et al., 2020), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a prevalent mental disorder.”
BackgroundComplex brain networks mediation of neuroticism and extraversion on obsessive-compulsive disorder
Huang, B., Cheng, J., Gao, J., Wang, Y., Wu, C., Ruan, H., Li, P., Han, H., & Wang, Z. (2025) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2025.119795 · Cited by 4
Subcortical shape in pediatric and adult obsessive‐compulsive disorder
Wang, Z., Fontaine, M., Cyr, M., Rynn, M. A., Simpson, H. B., Marsh, R., & Pagliaccio, D. (2022) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.23261 · Cited by 4
“OCD has a 1%–3% lifetime prevalence, typically with a chronic course and early age‐of‐onset, and many patients have persistent (sub)clinical symptoms even after appropriate treatments (Fawcett et al., 2020; Isomura et al., 2018; Kessler et al., 2010; Ruscio et al., 2010).”
BackgroundTiyatiye, B., & Akóṣílè, W. (2022) · Journal of Substance Use · doi:10.1080/14659891.2022.2148579 · Cited by 4
“…disorder (OCD) is a debilitating psychiatric illness characterized by recurrent intrusive thoughts, urges and images that are ego-dystonic; these are typically “homegrown” thoughts that lead to significant anxiety and are often paired with repetitive behaviors (Fawcett et al., 2020).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialLauri, K. O., Andersson, E., Mataix‐Cols, D., Norlin, L., Eriksson, V., Melin, K., Lenhard, F., Serlachius, E., & Aspvall, K. (2023) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2023.100613 · Cited by 4
Löchner, C., Naudé, P. J. W., & Stein, D. J. (2023) · Current Neuropharmacology · doi:10.2174/1570159x21666230829145425 · Cited by 4
“In a recent meta-analytic review, the overall aggregate current and lifetime OCD prevalence estimates were 1.1% and 1.3%, respectively [6].”
InfluentialStoppel, H., Harvey, B. H., & Wolmarans, D. W. (2024) · Developmental Psychobiology · doi:10.1002/dev.22533 · Cited by 4
MacNeil, B. A., Baran, K., Wilson, K., Boni, L., & Bolch, C. (2024) · The Journal of Men s Studies · doi:10.1177/10608265241286048 · Cited by 4
“This would be consistent with other work showing the women are almost twice as likely to experience OCD than men in general (Fawcett et al., 2020).”
The thalamus and its subnuclei: a gateway to obsessive-compulsive disorderPreprint
findings from the ENIGMA-OCD Working Group, Weeland, C. J., Kasprzak, S., de Joode, N. T., Abe, Y., Alonso, P., Ameis, S. H., Anticevic, A., Arnold, P. D., Balachander, S., et al. (2021) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2021.09.06.21262530 · Cited by 4
“3% percent that often starts during childhood and follows a chronic course (1).”
BackgroundMartin, H. S., Falkenstein, M. J., Nota, J. A., & Kuckertz, J. M. (2025) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-024-10561-2 · Cited by 4
“Content-based Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling psychiatric condition with a lifetime prevalence of 1.3% (Eisen et al., 2006; Fawcett et al., 2020; Macy et al., 2013).”
InfluentialBäckman, J., Wallert, J., Halvorsen, M., Roelstraete, B., de Schipper, E. J., Strom, N. I., Eide, T. O., Höffler, K. D., Mattheisen, M., Hansen, B. K. A., et al. (2025) · American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics · doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.33026 · Cited by 4
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling psychiatric disorder that affects around 1%–2% of the population (Fawcett et al. 2020; Ruscio et al. 2010) and is associated with an increased risk of suicide and overall mortality (De La Cruz et al. 2016; Meier et al. 2016).”
Ding, X., Ze, Z., Wang, J., Chen, C., Ding, S., Gao, J., Deng, J., & Liu, D. (2025) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.19791 · Cited by 5
“A recent meta-analysis reported that the lifetime prevalence is 1.5% for females and 1.0% for males, and that younger individuals are 1.4 times more likely to develop OCD than older adults ( Fawcett, Power & Fawcett, 2020 ).”
InfluentialSun, T., Karakuş, G., Tamam, L., Demirkol, M. E., Namlı, Z., & Yeşiloğlu, C. (2025) · Medicina · doi:10.3390/medicina61101802 · Cited by 4
Jeong, Y. D., Son, Y., Jeon, S., Cho, H., Ryuk, S. W., Jo, Y., Fond, G. B., Boyer, L., Smith, L., Cortese, S., et al. (2026) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.20250944 · Cited by 5
Weeland, C. J., Vriend, C., Tiemeier, H. W., van den Heuvel, O. A., & White, T. J. H. (2023) · JAACAP Open · doi:10.1016/j.jaacop.2023.11.003 · Cited by 3
“1,2 Whereas OCD is a clinical diagnosis, obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) are common among children and constitute a part of typical development.”
Chen, L. L., Naesström, M., Halvorsen, M., Fytagoridis, A., Crowley, S. B., Mataix‐Cols, D., Rück, C., Crowley, J. J., & Djurfeldt, D. R. (2024) · American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics · doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.32983 · Cited by 3
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating disorder with a lifetime prevalence of approximately 1-2% in the general population [1].”
Substance use and disordered eating risk among college students with obsessive-compulsive conditions
Jacobs, W., DeLeon, A., Bristow, A., Quinn, P. D., & Lederer, A. M. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0316349 · Cited by 3
“In line with studies indicating that sex/gender significantly influences the expression and impact of OCD [1, 5, 35, 36], this study demonstrates that the risks and comorbidities associated with OCD among college students vary by sex/gender.”
The Etiology, Assessment and Treatment of Compulsive Checking: A Review
Guo, S., Yadegar, M., Khaw, H., & Chang, S. W. (2025) · Psychology Research and Behavior Management · doi:10.2147/prbm.s431339 · Cited by 3
Emotional wellbeing in neurodivergent populations
Pincus, J. D., & Beller, K. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1606232 · Cited by 4
Medina‐Reyes, E. I., Rodríguez‐Ibarra, C., Díaz‐Urbina, D., et al. (2022) · Journal of Applied Toxicology · doi:10.1002/jat.4296 · Cited by 3
“…anxiety decreased only in E171-treated female mice, which is unusual since mood disorders are more frequent in females than males (An et al., 2011; Fawcett et al., 2020; Palanza, 2001), although this effect does not rely on the estrous cycle due to the estrous cycle has not been shown as a key…”
BackgroundLohse, L., Jelinek, L., Moritz, S., Blömer, J., Bücker, L., & Miegel, F. S. (2023) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-023-01116-3 · Cited by 3
“It has a lifetime prevalence of 1–3% [4, 5], and often takes a chronic course if untreated [6].”
BackgroundPatterns, predictors, and effectiveness of TMS for treatment-resistant OCD: A naturalistic study
Breiger, M., Baldi, S., Perlo, S., Brennan, B. P., Brown, J. C., Siddiqi, S., & Razafsha, M. (2025) · Transcranial magnetic stimulation . · doi:10.1016/j.transm.2025.100096 · Cited by 4
Yong, M., & Keh, C. (2022) · Journal of Concurrent Disorders · doi:10.54127/qrco6765 · Cited by 3
Asperger’s Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Attention Deficit Comorbidity
Carminati, G. G., Carminati, F., Zecca, G., & Tagan, C. (2022) · Psychology · doi:10.4236/psych.2022.137066 · Cited by 3
Cha, J., Kim, B., Kim, G., et al. (2023) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2749722/v1 · Cited by 3
Farrell, N. R., MacDonald, C. W., Nuñez, M. C., Rhode, A., Lume, N., McGrath, P. B., Baskova, M., Wilson, E., Abramowitz, J. S., & Feusner, J. D. (2024) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2024.09.06.24313128 · Cited by 3
“For example, whereas OCD occurs more frequently in males in youth compared to females (Geller et al., 2006), there is research showing that OCD is more common in females in adulthood (Fawcett, Power, & Fawcett, 2020).”
ResultAltered Neural Activity during Negative Reinforcement in People with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Panny, B., Price, R. B., Wears, A., & Ahmari, S. E. (2024) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-024-10475-z · Cited by 3
“OCD patients were predominantly female (83%), consistent with higher prevalence of OCD among females world-wide (Fawcett et al., 2020), while healthy participants were more evenly split.”
Disgust Imagery in Contamination-Related Symptoms in a non-Clinical Sample
Lerh, J. W., & Sündermann, O. (2024) · Imagination Cognition and Personality · doi:10.1177/02762366241279989 · Cited by 2
“The high number of student participants meeting the OCI-R cut-off might re fl ect recruitment bias due to its study ’ s title and a higher OCD lifetime prevalence of 3.6% locally (Subramaniam et al., 2020) compared to the international average of 1.3% (Fawcett et al., 2020).”
InfluentialGao, J. J., Jia, W., Li, P., zhao, H., Lin, L., Chen, M., Gao, R., Liu, X., Zhang, T., Zhao, W., et al. (2025) · Nature Mental Health · doi:10.1038/s44220-025-00410-w · Cited by 2
Çiftçi, E., Erkmen, H., Bulanik, E., Metin, B., & Tarhan, N. (2025) · Clinical EEG and Neuroscience · doi:10.1177/15500594251368432 · Cited by 2
Mental health stigma in Latin American youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder
McCarty, R. J., Jensen, M., Cruz, E. P. J. S., Sagarnaga, M. N., Quiroz, P., Miño, T., Giusti-Rodríguez, P., Mallen, M. C. M., Moyano, M. B., Berrones, D., et al. (2026) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2026.117113 · Cited by 3
Jelinek, L., Yassari, A. H., Pampuch, S., Miegel, F. S., Schultz, J., Hansen, B. K. A., Hagen, K., Gallinat, J., & Scheunemann, J. (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0350615 · Cited by 4
Shirkhani, M., Sharbaf, H. A., & Moeenizadeh, M. (2023) · Practice in Clinical Psychology · doi:10.32598/jpcp.11.3.814.1 · Cited by 2
Gehlenborg, J., Miegel, F. S., Moritz, S., Scheunemann, J., Yassari, A.-H., & Jelinek, L. (2023) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101927 · Cited by 2
Exploring latent clusters in pediatric OCD based on symptoms, severity, age, gender, and comorbidity
Smárason, O., Selles, R. R., Højgaard, D. R. M. A., Best, J. R., Melin, K., Ivarsson, T., Thomsen, P. H., Weidle, B., McBride, N. M., Storch, E. A., et al. (2024) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-024-02431-9 · Cited by 2
“Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an impairing psychiatric condition affecting approximately 1% of individuals across the lifespan [1], with onset commonly occurring between childhood and late adolescence [2].”
Zisler, E. M., Meule, A., Koch, S., & Voderholzer, U. (2024) · Discover Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s44192-024-00073-6 · Cited by 2
“It is a relatively common mental disorder as the lifetime prevalence ranges between 1 and 3% in the general population [3].”
BackgroundKatz, D. E., Rector, N. A., Ornstein, T. J., McKinnon, M. C., McCabe, R. E., Hawley, L. L., Rowa, K., Richter, M. A., Regev, R., & Laposa, J. M. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.07.044 · Cited by 2
Algadeeb, J., Alramdan, M., Algadeeb, R., & Almusawi, K. N. (2024) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.67381 · Cited by 3
“Furthermore, Fawcett et al. [8] concluded that females and younger adults are at greater risk of experiencing OCD in their lifetime than their counterparts.”
BackgroundWilson, S., Mesli, N., Mehak, A., & Racine, S. E. (2025) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.23798 · Cited by 3
“Further, given that OCD afflicts only slightly more women than men (Fawcett et al. 2020), and rates of EDs are rising in men (Gorrell and Murray 2019), future studies should aim to recruit individuals across the spectrum of gender identities.”
Metadata
- 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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