(PS7-B30) Ethnoracial Disparities in Adequate Treatment Trials for Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) affects approximately 1 in 40 individuals and is associated with chronic course and significant distress and impairment. With adequate treatment, individuals can experience significant reduction in symptoms, and some achieve remission. However, many individuals face barriers to adequate treatment, including significant delay to diagnosis, lack of clinician competency in OCD, and resistance to first-line treatments. Individuals from ethnoracial minority groups may face additional barriers. The current study aimed to add to existing research on mental health care disparities and examine whether differences exist in the number of adequate psychotherapy and pharmacological treatment trials for OCD in ethnoracial minorities compared to non-Hispanic White individuals. Twenty-one participants participated in a study investigating heterogeneity in OCD. Participants self-identified their ethnoracial groups. Ethnoracial minorities (N = 7) were individuals who identified as Hispanic or Latino and/or non-White. A study clinician administered the Antidepressant Treatment Resistance Questionnaire to get detailed information about OCD-specific psychotherapy and pharmacological treatment history. The interview examines adherence to and fidelity of psychotherapy and dosage and duration of medication trials to determine if the treatment trials were adequate. Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare the number of adequate psychotherapy treatment trials and/or adequate pharmacological treatment trials between the groups. Additionally, we compared the number of adequate medication trials that were considered failures (below 35 % reduction in symptoms) between ethnoracial minorities and White individuals. There was a significant difference in the number of adequate psychotherapy trials for those who self-identified as an ethnoracial minority (M = .00, SD= .00) compared to White (M = .29, SD = .47; t(21) = 2.28, p = .04, two-tailed). The magnitude of the differences in the means (mean difference = .29, 95% CI [.02, .56]) was large (η2 = .21). There was no significant difference between groups in the number of adequate pharmacological trials (minority individuals: M = 1.00, SD = .82;  White individuals: M = .93, SD = 1.00; t (21) = -.16, p = .87, two-tailed) and no difference in the number of adequate medication trials that were considered failed (minority individuals: M = .71, SD = .76; White individuals M = .29, SD = .47; t (21) = -1.61, p = .12, two-tailed). White individuals reported a higher number of previous adequate psychotherapy treatment trials than ethnoracial minorities, but there was no significant difference in medication trial history. This may provide insight into the type of care that ethnoracial minorities are able to access. In addition, there is no significant difference in the number of failed adequate medication trials between ethnoracial minorities and White individuals, which may suggest that pharmacological treatments are equally effective across ethnoracial groups. Further research about ethnoracial disparities in OCD treatment is warranted. This study is ongoing, and we anticipate that we will have a larger sample by the time the poster is presented.