High prevalence of somatic symptoms in a semi-rural Chilean population and its association with depression and anxiety^†

† Affiliation where research was conducted: Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.

ABSTRACT

Our purpose was to study the prevalence of mental disorders with an emphasis on somatic symptoms and their association with social support in a Chilean semi-rural area. We studied a sample of 796 adults born between 1974 and 1978 in Limache, Chile. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 and the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Scale test were used to assess depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms and social support, respectively. We found that the prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms was 63.8% in women (most of them in the severe range) and 34.1% in men. The rates of depression and anxiety were 17.7 and 21.7%, respectively. Psychosomatic symptoms were strongly associated with depression (male OR:10.33, CI 95%:2.91–34.54; female OR:6.19, CI 95%:2.64–14.52) and anxiety (male OR:2.63, CI 95%:1.04–6.63; female OR:3.97, CI 95%:2.02–7.78). The association between psychosomatic symptoms and functional impairment was mainly due to symptoms of depression and anxiety. Mental disorders were inversely associated with social support. We conclude that psychosomatic symptoms were the norm, especially in women. Social support is marginally lower in those with a mental disorder, but still perceived as high. Physical complains in these communities are frequently the expression of depression and anxiety.

KEYWORDS:

• somatic symptoms
• depression
• anxiety
• population study
• social support

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Carlos Sandaña qualified in medicine in the Universidad de Chile and currently is a postgraduate student of the PhD Programme in Public Health of the School of Public Health of Universidad de Chile. His research interests include mental health, primary health care and epidemiology.

Prof Patricia Bustos is a Medical Doctor and a full professor in the Faculty of Medicine of Universidad de Chile. Her work has been related to nutritional problems in children and on the early origins of chronic diseases. She has been the co-investigator in a research conducted in the Region of Valparaíso, Chile, consisting on a follow-up of a cohort of people born between 1974 and 1978, time when they were 25 and 35 years old, and a new cohort of people born in the same region 15 years later.

Prof Hugo Amigo obtained the master degree in Public Health in the University of Harvard, USA, and the doctoral degree in the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Currently he is a full professor in the Faculty of Medicine of Universidad de Chile. His main contribution has been in the field of nutrition and epidemiology with emphases on the malnutrition problems in Latin America. He is main researcher in the follow-up of a birth cohort in Limache, Region of Valparaiso, Chile, whose aim is to research early risk factors of chronic diseases in young adults.

Andrea Canals is an academic of the Environmental Health Programme of the School of Public Health of Universidad de Chile and she works as a biostatistical consultant at the Academic Direction of the Santa María Clinic in Santiago, Chile. She obtained a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and she has completed a Master in Biostatistics in the School of Public Health of Universidad de Chile. Her research interests include epidemiology and biostatistics.

Prof Roberto J. Rona qualified in medicine in the Universidad de Chile, obtained his PhD in the University of London; he is Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health in Britain and professor of Public Health. His main contributions have been in the field of nutrition epidemiology with a special interest in social aspects of nutrition, obesity and food allergy, asthma and mental health mainly in relation to PTSD, mTBI and alcohol misuse in UK military personnel, and the evaluation of screening for mental disorders in the UK Armed Forces. He is currently part-time member of the Department of Psychological Medicine of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. He has collaborated with Chilean researchers in a longitudinal study in Limache for more than 15 years researching risk factors of coronary heart disease, respiratory diseases and mental disorders. His current h-index is 47.

Notes

† Affiliation where research was conducted: Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico [grant numbers FONDECYT N°1100414 and FONDECYT N°1140453]. The first author's postgraduate studies are being supported by the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica [grant number CONICYT-PCHA/Doctorado Nacional/2014-21140851].