Citation

Caplan S, Alvidrez J, Paris M, Escobar JI, Dixon JK, Desai MM, Whittemore R, Scahill LD. Prim. Care Companion J. Clin. Psychiatry 2010; 12(5): ePub.

Affiliation

College of Nursing and Health Professions, University of Southern Maine, Portland ; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco ; Department of Psychiatry , Department of Nursing , Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology , and Department of Nursing & Child Psychiatry , Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; and Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Physicians Postgraduate Press)

DOI

10.4088/PCC.09m00899blu

PMID

21274360

PMCID

PMC3025995

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Identification and treatment of depression may be difficult for primary care providers when there is a mismatch between the patient's subjective experiences of illness and objective criteria. Cultural differences in presentation of symptoms among Latino immigrants may hinder access to care for treatment of depression. This article seeks to describe the self-perceptions and symptoms of Latino primary care patients who identify themselves as depressed but do not meet screening criteria for depression. METHOD: A convenience sample of Latino immigrants (N = 177) in Corona, Queens, New York, was obtained from a primary care practice from August 2008 to December 2008. The sample was divided into 3 groups according to whether participants met Patient Health Questionnaire diagnostic criteria for depression and whether or not participants had a self-perceived mental health problem and self-identified their problem as "depression" from a checklist of cultural idioms of distress. Psychosocial, demographic, and treatment variables were compared between the 3 groups. RESULTS: Participants' descriptions of symptoms had a predominantly somatic component. The most common complaints were ánimo bajo (low energy) and decaimiento (weakness). Participants with "subjective" depression had mean scores of somatic symptoms and depression severity that were significantly lower than the participants with "objective" depression and significantly higher than the group with no depression (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Latino immigrants who perceive that they need help with depression, but do not meet screening criteria for depression, still have significant distress and impairment. To avoid having these patients "fall through the cracks," it is important to take into account culturally accepted expressions of distress and the meaning of illness for the individual.

Language: en