A. Janca et al., SOMATOFORM DISORDERS IN DIFFERENT CULTURES - A MAIL QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY, Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 30(1), 1995, pp. 44-48
A mail questionnaire survey was organized by WHO to obtain expert opin
ion on the cross-cultural applicability of ICD-10 definitions of somat
oform disorders. A response was obtained from 42 experts in 23 countri
es representing all five continents. The results showed that the ICD-1
0 concept of somatoform disorders was generally acceptable for use acr
oss cultures. However, a number of culture-specific symptoms, characte
ristics and terms that do not appear in ICD-10 were found to be common
and important for the diagnosis of somatoform disorders in particular
cultures. Pointing out the relative restrictiveness of ICD-10 criteri
a for somatization disorder, the experts emphasized the usefulness of
having the more inclusive category of undifferentiated somatoform diso
rder. The survey was organized as the starting point of the WHO Intern
ational Study of Somatoform Disorders. The major goal of the study is
to improve understanding of the somatic presentation of psychological
disorders in different cultures.