ArticleCultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology2020
Racial/ethnic differences in general physical symptoms and medically unexplained physical symptoms: Investigating the role of education.
Article in Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Symptom burden in middle-aged women, the role of immigrant status.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Worst of Times: Depressive Symptoms Among Racialized Groups Living With Dementia and Cognitive Impairment During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of aging and health · 2024Article
- Long COVID research in minority ethnic populations may be lost in translation.Nature medicine · 2024Article
- Factors Associated with Bothersome Symptoms in Individuals With and Without HIV Who Report Alcohol Use.AIDS and behavior · 2023Article
- Psychosomatic symptoms related to exacerbation of fatigue in patients with medically unexplained symptoms.Journal of general and family medicine · 2023Article
- Gender Differences in Disease, Function, and Behavioral Symptoms in Residents with Dementia.Western journal of nursing research · 2022Article
- Family narratives of lives with persistent physical symptom conditions.Clinical child psychology and psychiatry · 2021Article
- Prevalence of Alexithymia in Patients with Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms: A Cross-sectional Study in Egypt.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2021Article
- Measurement Invariance of Screening Measures of Anxiety, Depression, and Level of Functioning in a US Sample of Minority Older Adults Assessed in Four Languages.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesDistressing physical symptoms (e.g., back pain, nausea), many of which lack medical explanation, are a common cause for medical help seeking. However, racial/ethnic and educational differences may complicate identification and explanation of such symptoms, potentially contributing to clinician misdiagnosis and patient dissatisfaction. To better understand this issue, we examined racial/ethnic differences in general physical symptoms (GPS) and, more specifically, medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) and whether differences varied by race/ethnicity and educational attainment.
methodA sample of 4,864 Latino, Asian, and non-Latino White community respondents (54% female; average age of 41 years) self-reported their GPS. Two experts then rated whether endorsed symptoms were likely to have a medical basis. We assessed the associations of GPS and MUPS with race/ethnicity, age, gender, educational attainment, chronic physical conditions, and past-year psychiatric diagnoses.
resultsAsian respondents reported significantly fewer GPS than non-Latino Whites, and both Asian and Latino respondents endorsed significantly fewer MUPS than non-Latino Whites. When nativity and language were each included as covariates, racial/ethnic differences in GPS count were no longer observed; however, observed differences in MUPS count remained. Educational attainment did not demonstrate a significant relationship with either GPS or MUPS. Although comorbid mental health diagnoses were significantly related to both GPS and MUPS, age, gender, and comorbid physical conditions were the only significant predictors of GPS.
conclusionsResults from this study question existing stereotypical views of racial/ethnic differences in somatization and suggest that educational attainment does not significantly contribute to reported physical symptoms-with or without medical explanation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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