This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Javier I. Escobar, MD; M. Audrey Burnam, PhD; Marvin Karno, MD; Alan Forsythe, PhD; Jacqueline M. Golding, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1987;44(8):713-718.

Abstract
• We examined the prevalence of somatization disorder symptoms elicited with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule in 3132 community respondents interviewed in Los Angeles by the Epidemiologic Catchment Area program. The variables age, gender, ethnic background, and the presence of a psychiatric diagnosis significantly influenced the number of somatization symptoms reported. An introductory review on conceptual and nosological aspects of somatization phenomena led to the formulation of a less-restrictive operational definition of the somatizer. We found that 4.4% of the respondents met criteria for this abridged cutoff score of somatization, whereas only 0.03% of the respondents met criteria for the full DSM-III somatization disorder diagnosis. This abridged cutoff score was associated with sociodemographic factors and psychiatric diagnosis in the direction predicted.

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Drs Escobar, Burnam, Karno, Forsythe, and Golding) and School of Public Health (Dr Golding), UCLA. Dr Escobar is now with University of Connecticut, Farmington, and Newington (Conn) Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Sept 30, 1986.

Reprint requests to Newington Veterans Administration Medical Center, 550 Willard Ave, Newington, CT 06111 (Dr Escobar).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Assessment of Somatic Symptoms in British Secondary School Children Using the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI)
Vila et al.
J Pediatr Psychol 2009;34:989-998.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Influence of Cultural and Social Factors on the Epidemiology of Idiopathic Somatic Complaints and Syndromes
Escobar and Gureje
Psychosom. Med. 2007;69:841-845.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Stability of Somatoform Symptoms Implications for Classification
Rief and Rojas
Psychosom. Med. 2007;69:864-869.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Somatoform and Substance Use Disorders
Hasin and Katz
Psychosom. Med. 2007;69:870-875.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Costs of an Intervention for Primary Care Patients With Medically Unexplained Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Luo et al.
Psychiatr. Serv. 2007;58:1079-1086.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Military deployment to the Gulf War as a risk factor for psychiatric illness among US troops
FIEDLER et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2006;188:453-459.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Illness Attitude Scales: Adaptation and Translation Into Spanish for Use With Older Adults
Bravo and Arrufat
Journal of Applied Gerontology 2005;24:355-371.
ABSTRACT  

Somatization Increases Medical Utilization and Costs Independent of Psychiatric and Medical Comorbidity
Barsky et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2005;62:903-910.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Depression in US Hispanics: Diagnostic and Management Considerations in Family Practice
Lewis-Fernandez et al.
J Am Board Fam Med 2005;18:282-296.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Randomized Clinical Trial of a Care Recommendation Letter Intervention for Somatization in Primary Care
Dickinson et al.
Ann Fam Med 2003;1:228-235.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Specific Somatoform Disorder in the General Population
Grabe et al.
Psychosomatics 2003;44:304-311.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Review
Afari and Buchwald
Am. J. Psychiatry 2003;160:221-236.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Mental Health Care for Latinos: A Research Agenda to Improve the Accessibility and Quality of Mental Health Care for Latinos
Lopez
Psychiatr. Serv. 2002;53:1569-1573.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Psychosocial Treatments for Multiple Unexplained Physical Symptoms: A Review of the Literature
Allen et al.
Psychosom. Med. 2002;64:939-950.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Association of Attachment Style to Lifetime Medically Unexplained Symptoms in Patients With Hepatitis C
Ciechanowski et al.
Psychosomatics 2002;43:206-212.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Somatization: A Critical Review of Conceptual and Methodological Issues
De Gucht and Fischler
Psychosomatics 2002;43:1-9.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Identifying Somatization Disorder in a Population-Based Health Examination Survey: Psychosocial Burden and Gender Differences
Ladwig et al.
Psychosomatics 2001;42:511-518.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Medically Unexplained Symptoms in an Urban General Medicine Practice
Feder et al.
Psychosomatics 2001;42:261-268.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Somatic and Psychological Complaints and Their Correlates With Insomnia in the Japanese General Population
Kim et al.
Psychosom. Med. 2001;63:441-446.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Medically unexplained symptoms in frequent attenders of secondary health care: retrospective cohort study
Reid et al.
BMJ 2001;322:767-767.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Somatization: A Debilitating Syndrome in Primary Care
Allen et al.
Psychosomatics 2001;42:63-67.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Stability of Somatization Syndromes Over Time
Gara et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2001;58:94-94.
FULL TEXT  

Traumatic Life Events in Primary Care Patients: A Study in an Ethnically Diverse Sample
Holman et al.
Arch Fam Med 2000;9:802-810.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Somatization in an Immigrant Population in Israel: A Community Survey of Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Help-Seeking Behavior
Ritsner et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2000;157:385-392.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Health Attitude Survey: A Scale for Assessing Somatizing Patients
Noyes et al.
Psychosomatics 1999;40:470-478.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Somatization in Primary Care: Prevalence, Health Care Utilization, and General Practitioner Recognition
Fink et al.
Psychosomatics 1999;40:330-338.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Somatization Reconsidered: Incorporating the Patient's Experience of Illness
Epstein et al.
Arch Intern Med 1999;159:215-222.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Stability of Somatization Disorder and Somatization Symptoms Among Primary Care Patients
Simon and Gureje
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999;56:90-95.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Role of Culture in Psychiatric Care
Ruiz
Am. J. Psychiatry 1998;155:1763-1765.
FULL TEXT  

Does Geriatric Evaluation and Management Improve the Health Behavior of Older Veterans in Psychological Distress?
O'Donnell and Toseland
J Aging Health 1997;9:473-497.
ABSTRACT  

Long term outcome of patients with neurotic illness in general practice
Lloyd et al.
BMJ 1996;313:26-28.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Somatization and Medicalization in the Era of Managed Care
Barsky and Borus
JAMA 1995;274:1931-1934.
ABSTRACT  

Somatization in Primary Care, With a Focus on Immigrants and Refugees
Castillo et al.
Arch Fam Med 1995;4:637-646.
ABSTRACT  

Development and Validation of the SDDS-PC Screen for Multiple Mental Disorders in Primary Care
Broadhead et al.
Arch Fam Med 1995;4:211-219.
ABSTRACT  

A Trial of the Effect of a Standardized Psychiatric Consultation on Health Outcomes and Costs in Somatizing Patients
Smith et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1995;52:238-243.
ABSTRACT  

Utility of a New Procedure for Diagnosing Mental Disorders in Primary Care: The PRIME-MD 1000 Study
Spitzer et al.
JAMA 1994;272:1749-1756.
ABSTRACT  

Symptoms in the Community: Prevalence, Classification, and Psychiatric Comorbidity
Kroenke and Price
Arch Intern Med 1993;153:2474-2480.
ABSTRACT  

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Criteria: A Critique of the Requirement for Multiple Physical Complaints
Katon and Russo
Arch Intern Med 1992;152:1604-1609.
ABSTRACT  

Psychiatric Comorbidity in DSM-III-R Hypochondriasis
Barsky et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1992;49:101-108.
ABSTRACT  

Hispanic Mental Health Research: A Case for Cultural Psychiatry
Fabrega
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 1990;12:339-365.
ABSTRACT