Preliminary Study of OCD and Health Disparities at the U.S.-Mexico Border

Abstract

The widespread and devastating nature of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) sharply contrasts with the paucity of research involving Mexican Americans and Mexicans who suffer from this condition. This mixed-methods preliminary study was intended to provide initial data and to pilot the procedures for a larger investigation of the cultural identification, symptomatology, health concerns, coping mechanisms, and quality of life of Mexican Americans and Mexicans with OCD living in the U.S.-Mexico border region of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. For the sample of six participants, whose symptoms ranged from moderate to extreme, OCD was associated with marked impairment in quality of life, particularly in terms of social functioning, an area of central importance for many Mexican Americans and Mexicans. Areas of further study were identified, with the aim of developing culturally sensitive interventions to decrease health disparities involving OCD.

From Primetime to Paradise

“…22 Although the border is a place with many outward reminders of the central importance of religion, and an overwhelming majority of persons who identify as Roman Catholic, connectedness to God or other potential sources of spiritual inspiration and support has been absent from the 13 interviews that have been conducted in this region to date. 22 Although the border is a place with many outward reminders of the central importance of religion, and an overwhelming majority of persons who identify as Roman Catholic, connectedness to God or other potential sources of spiritual inspiration and support has been absent from the 13 interviews that have been conducted in this region to date.…”

Latinos with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Mental healthcare utilization and inclusion in clinical trials

“…Department of Health and Human Services 2008). In a small pilot study of OCD in Mexican border towns, Olsen, Vera and Perez (2003) found that few Latinos completed or obtained effective treatment. In an epidemiological study of OCD in Mexico City, Caraveo-Anduaga and Bermudez (2004) found that more than 1200 participants diagnosed only with OCD did not seek treatment, and only 8% of OCD individuals with comorbid disorders obtained treatment.…”

Nataniel, NAFTA, and Public Health at the U.S.‐Mexico Border

“…This story emerged as part of an ongoing study of mental health disparities in this region (Olson, Vera, & Perez, 2006), which included 300 semistructured interviews conducted mostly in Spanish. As per the study protocol, as approved by the Institutional Review Board at the investigators' university, informed consent (in Spanish and/or English, as appropriate) was obtained from all research participants before the interviews.…”