Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or trastorno obsesivo compulsivo (TOC) as it is known in Spanish-speaking countries, ranks tenth in the World Bank's and World Health Organization's leading causes of disability for persons age five and older. Yet there is a dearth of information on the relationship between culture, ethnicity and OCD, particularly for Hispanic persons with this disorder. The overall objective of this R03 application is to describe, examine and explore issues involving the cultural identification, symptomatology, health concerns, coping mechanisms, and quality of life of persons with OCD in a population at high risk for health disparities, Mexican-American and Mexican persons (MAs and MXs) living in the U.S.-Mexico Border region of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
The specific aims of the study include: 1) to describe the cultural identification, symptomatology, health concerns, coping mechanisms, and quality of life issues among Mexican Americans and Mexicans with OCD in the Border region; 2) to compare the relationship between Mexican Americans and Mexican's health concerns, coping mechanisms, quality of life issues and other key research measures (e.g., symptom severity, cultural identification, ethnicity, education and other demographic data); and 3) to explore the implications of these findings in terms of specific, culturally sensitive interventions most likely to be effective in Mexican Americans and Mexican's' real-life situations. This study employs a mixed method approach for understanding the multiple factors affecting OCD and health disparities at the Border. Four tools validated for English- and Spanish-speaking persons will be employed to obtain qualitative and quantitative data and to meet each of the study aims. The qualitative data will provide in-depth information related to treatment and care experiences, coping mechanisms, relationships, and the possible influence of culture, ethnicity and place. The quantitative data will provide demographic information and measures of symptom severity and quality of life. Triangulation of these combined data sets will offer the greatest insight into the complex topic of investigation, thus laying the groundwork for a later, larger-scale study to examine the effects of culturally sensitive interventions to decrease health disparities for MAs and MXs with OCD. Relevance to public health. The widespread and devastating nature of OCD sharply contrasts with the paucity of research involving MAs and MXs who suffer from this condition. This application addresses this knowledge gap with a study which could provide a critical foundation for later research to examine the effects of culturally sensitive interventions to decrease health disparities on a wider scale. As such, this research can provide an important contribution to issues of health disparity. ? ? ?
| Olson, Tom; Vera, Beatriz; Perez, Oriana (2007) From primetime to paradise: the lived experience of OCD in Hawaii. Fam Community Health 30:S59-70 |
| Olson, Tom; Vera, Beatriz; Perez, Oriana (2006) Preliminary Study of OCD and Health Disparities at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Hisp Health Care Int 4:89-99 |
