Investigating and quantifying obsessive-compulsive and related disorders among childhood cancer survivors: a brief report.

OBJECTIVE

Long-term psychological impacts are well--documented among childhood cancer survivors. To our knowledge, however, no research has been conducted to investigate obsessive--compulsive and related disorders (OCRD) among childhood -cancer survivors (CCS).

METHODS

Using a large electronic medical record database, relative risk were calculated to examine associations between demographic characteristics and childhood cancer type and OCRDs among childhood cancer survivors.

RESULTS

Among 121 survivors of childhood cancer diagnosed with OCRD, 57% were female. The most common childhood cancer diagnoses were leukemia/lymphoma (41%) and central nervous system (CNS) malignancies (38%), and OCRD diagnoses most frequently observed were obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; 76%) and excoriation disorder (13%). Female sex (RR= 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17-1.61), White race (RR= 1.28, 95% CI 1.15-1.36) and history of CNS malignancies (RR= 1.36, 95% CI 1.18, 1.92) were associated with OCD.

CONCLUSIONS

Numerous factors, including sex, race, and cancer type, were seen as contributors to risk variance for OCRDs, particularly OCD, among CCS, compared to CCS with no OCRD diagnosis. This provides an enhanced understanding of risk factors for OCRD development and may help improve early identification and care for at-risk survivors.