Somatic symptoms in a community sample of Ethiopian immigrants in Toronto, Canada

Abstract

This study examines the occurrence and correlates of somatic symptoms in a random sample of 342 adult Ethiopian immigrants residing in Toronto, Canada. Somatic symptoms were derived from the somatization disorder module of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Nearly two-thirds (63.2%) of the study participants reported having had at least one of the symptoms and 12.9% reported having had five or more symptoms in the 12 months preceding their interviews. Results indicated that somatic symptom level was significantly associated with major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a multivariate linear regression analysis controlling for mental disorder, somatic symptom level was significantly associated with older age, pre-migration trauma, post-migration stressful life events and limited English language fluency, with the association between pre-migration trauma and somatic symptoms being largely mediated by the onset of PTSD. Depression and PTSD were found to be directly associated with somat...