WORLD-HEALTH-ORGANIZATION INTERNATIONAL STUDY OF SOMATOFORM DISORDERS- BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently launched a study of t he characteristics of somatoform disorders in different cultures. An e xpert review of current knowledge on somatization and of issues that r equire future research had been produced prior to the study, These iss ues include the diagnosis, classification, assessment, cross-cultural variation and treatment of somatization. The main objectives of the WH O study are to test the cross-cultural applicability of the diagnostic criteria for somatoform disorders and develop instruments for their a ssessment; to assess the rates and other epidemiological indicators of the somatic expression of psychological disorders in different cultur es; to produce and evaluate a set of educational tools and a programme of intervention for somatoform disorders in different parts of the wo rld.