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Transcultural Psychiatry
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Somatoform Symptoms in a Japanese Community Population: Prevalence and Association with Personality Characteristics

Yutaka Ono

Keio University School of Medicine, Japan

Kimio Yoshimura

National Cancer Center Research Institute

Keita Yamauchi

Masahiro Asai

Keio University School of Medicine, Japan

Jerome Young

Keio University SFC, Japan

Shigeki Fujihara

Yamazumi Hospital, Japan

Toshinori Kitamura

Japanese National Institute of Mental Health, Japan

To investigate the prevalence rates and characteristics of poorly explained or unexplained somatic symptoms in the general population of Japan, questionnaires were administered to 132 people aged 18 years or older in a small community in the city of Kofu. The participants were then interviewed by trained interviewers using a semi-structured interview schedule. Of the 132 participants in our study, 55 (41%) reported somatic symptoms. Of these 55, nine (16%) were diagnosed with a specific DSM-IV somatoform disorder. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the number of poorly explained symptoms among women was related to the respondent’s score on Neuroticism. These data suggest that poorly explained or unexplained somatic symptoms are related to personality characteristics. Moreover, our analysis also revealed a gender difference in the pattern of these relationships. None of the respondents who reported medically unexplained somatic symptoms had sought psychiatric care.

Key Words: Extraversion • gender difference • Neuroticism • somatization • somatoform disorder • values

Transcultural Psychiatry, Vol. 37, No. 2, 219-228 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/136346150003700204
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