LATINO Study Frequently Asked Questions (English)

If you or your child have had, or think you might have, OCD and have at least one grandparent who identifies as Latino/Hispanic, we invite you to take our survey here.

Each participant who meets eligibility criteria, provides a saliva sample and completes questionnaires will receive $25 for their time.

General inquiries can be directed to the research team at LATINOStudy@bcm.edu.

Yes, children can join the study if their parent or guardian consents and the child wants to participate.

LATINO is funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Yes, you may be eligible if you have never received a diagnosis or treatment. In fact, many people with OCD have never received a formal diagnosis or treatment. The sign-up questionnaire is designed to assess your eligibility to take part based on your answers to the survey.

Yes, we are actively recruiting in several Latin American countries and invite you to visit our website for your country (view main menu on the top left).

Your questionnaire data will help us get a fuller picture of your OCD as well as related symptoms like depression and anxiety. By combining the genetic data with the questionnaire data, we can ask important questions about how genes influence the nature of your illness.

Keeping your information confidential is our highest priority. There are a number of federal regulations and policies in place that LATINO complies with to ensure that data are protected and that biological samples are stored correctly and safely. Your data and samples will become part of a national repository that is overseen by the National Institutes of Health. Your data and samples will be de-identified when sent to the repository. Your consent form includes extensive information about how your data and samples will be stored and kept confidential. If at any time you have questions about confidentiality, please feel free to contact LATINO staff. You can email us at LATINOStudy@bcm.edu.

You can view an instructional video. We will also provide instructions in the kit.

We will extract DNA (genetic material) from your spit (saliva) sample. We will then genotype your sample (a readout of the genetic code) and combine your data with data from thousands of other people with OCD. We will then compare the genotypes of people with and without OCD to see where differences lie. Those differences are strong clues about the genes that cause OCD.

Samples will be initially maintained at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They will later be sent to and managed by the NIMH Repository & Genomics Resource.