Somatization in Dominicans

Abstract

Individuals are often resistant to expressing their psychological problems verbally for various reasons. They will therefore complain of somatic symptoms which they view as more socially acceptable problems. A variety of factors have been identified as contributing to the rate of somatization including culture, socioeconomic level and age. Research indicates that the number of psychiatric diagnoses tends to increase as the number of somatic symptoms increase and that Latinos have a higher rate of presentation of somatic symptoms than their white non-Latino counterparts. Given that there is no research on the prevalence of symptom presentation in the Dominican population, this study describes the sample in terms of number of symptoms endorsed, including generalized pain, migraines, and gastrointestinal discomfort. The study found that 86.8% of the sample was of Dominican origin, 60% of which endorsed at least one somatic symptom.