BACKGROUND: Depression is a highly prevalent, worldwide problem with multiple social and health consequences. It often presents in primary care with physical symptoms. Little research has been done on cross-cultural expression of depression in primary care. This paper examines the hypothesis that depressed Japanese patients present with more and with more distinct somatic complaints than depressed American patients. METHODS: Data were collected by chart audit for patients with a diagnosis of depression at two sites: Minamikawachi Tochigi, Japan and Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Patient demographics and type and number of presenting symptoms in the two populations were compared. Logistic regression was used to determine whether there were differences between countries in physical symptoms and to adjust for relevant demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Japanese family physicians charted more somatic complaints from patients diagnosed as depressed than did American family physicians. Specific physical symptoms differed by country: Japanese patients had more abdominal distress, headaches, and neck pain. These symptoms have strong cultural significance for Japanese patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study clearly indicates the prominence and importance of physical symptoms in the presentation of depression in Japanese primary care patients. Their physicians must be alerted to the possibility of depression, especially when patient complaints include abdominal, neck or head pain.
BACKGROUND:Depression is a highly prevalent, worldwide problem with multiple social and health consequences. It often presents in primary care with physical symptoms. Little research has been done on cross-cultural expression of depression in primary care. This paper examines the hypothesis that depressed Japanese patients present with more and with more distinct somatic complaints than depressed American patients. METHODS: Data were collected by chart audit for patients with a diagnosis of depression at two sites: Minamikawachi Tochigi, Japan and Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Patient demographics and type and number of presenting symptoms in the two populations were compared. Logistic regression was used to determine whether there were differences between countries in physical symptoms and to adjust for relevant demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Japanese family physicians charted more somatic complaints from patients diagnosed as depressed than did American family physicians. Specific physical symptoms differed by country: Japanese patients had more abdominal distress, headaches, and neck pain. These symptoms have strong cultural significance for Japanese patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study clearly indicates the prominence and importance of physical symptoms in the presentation of depression in Japanese primary care patients. Their physicians must be alerted to the possibility of depression, especially when patient complaints include abdominal, neck or head pain.
Authors: Ronny Bruffaerts; Jose Posada-Villa; Ali Obaid Al-Hamzawi; Oye Gureje; Yueqin Huang; Chiyi Hu; Evelyn J Bromet; Maria Carmen Viana; Hristo Ruskov Hinkov; Elie G Karam; Guilherme Borges; Silvia E Florescu; David R Williams; Koen Demyttenaere; Viviane Kovess-Masfety; Herbert Matschinger; Daphna Levinson; Giovanni de Girolamo; Yutaka Ono; Ron de Graaf; Mark Oakley Browne; Brendan Bunting; Miguel Xavier; Josep Maria Haro; Ronald C Kessler Journal: Br J Psychiatry Date: 2014-11-13 Impact factor: 9.319
Authors: Gildete Barreto Lopes; Luciana Ferreira Silva; Gustavo Behrens Pinto; Luiz Fernando Catto; Marcia Tereza Silva Martins; Margarida Maria Dantas Dutra; Antonio Alberto Lopes Journal: Qual Life Res Date: 2014-03-14 Impact factor: 4.147