OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDERS VERSUS OBS ESSIVE-COMPULSIVE SYNDROMES- COMPARATIVE-STUDY WITH 2 INVESTIGATIONS IN THE GENERAL-POPULATION AND IN PATIENTS SEEKING PSYCHIATRIC HELPS

Recent epidemiological studies were conducted in the general populatio n, showing high rate prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) , estimated between 2 and 3 % in the community. Although investigation of OCD prevalence had challenged the << real >> definition of diagnos tic threshold-criteria. Recent data from the Zurich study and from a l arge french clinical survey had confirmed the high prevalence and the validity of the subsyndromal forms of OCD (which are labelled as OCS o r Obsessive-Compulsive Syndroms). In the Zurich study, lifetime preval ence rates of OCS was estimated to 5,5 %. Point prevalence rates of OC S was recorded at 19,2 % in the French survey (population of 4364 new patients seeking psychiatric help). In the two studies, a significant association between OCS and other disorders (major depression, dysthym ia, phobic disorders) was found. Lifetime suicide attempts rate was fo und in 16-18 % of subjects suffering from OCS (respectively in the Zur ich and the French studies). These results confirmed that OCS (or subs yndromal forms of OCD) seemed to represent a clinically valid subgroup which modem classification systems fail to recognize, requiring treat ment.