301
Views
9
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Measuring somatic symptoms with the PHQ-15: a comparative study of three Iranian samples

ORCID Icon, , ORCID Icon, , ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 289-301 | Received 28 Aug 2019, Accepted 15 Jan 2020, Published online: 20 Feb 2020
 

ABSTRACT

Somatic symptoms are among the most common presenting concerns in the primary care. The theoretical literature has proposed that Iranians may somaticize distress. The aims of the study were (a) to compare somatic symptoms among three Iranian samples, (b) to explore gender-related differences, and (c) to investigate the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15). A total of 349 Iranian participants (94 college students, 100 elderly persons, and 155 psychiatric outpatients) were recruited. Psychiatric outpatients scored higher on somatic symptoms than college students. Females in all samples scored higher than males. The measure in all samples demonstrated good internal consistency and reliability as well as moderate concurrent and discriminant validity. For each sample identified four slightly different factors, which covered gastrointestinal, pain, psycho-fatigue, cardiopulmonary, and reproductive symptoms. Implications for culturally appropriate services are discussed. This study provides evidence for the usefulness of the PHQ-15 for assessing somatic symptoms in three Iranian samples and extends existing research about the measure's factor structure.

Acknowledgements

We thank all subjects for their participation in the study, and the research assistants for helping in the collection of data. This paper is based on a Master of Public Health (MPH) thesis in Mental Health by the senior author. Research Ethics Committee approval of Iran University of Medical sciences authorised the permission to conduct this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 286.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.