Psychological Morbidity in Primary Health Care in Oman : A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Objective – To assess the prevalence of somatization and psychological morbidity presenting to primary health care in Oman and to examine the correlation between the indices of somatization and psychological disorders. Method – Consecutive primary care patients (n = 100) were screened with Bradford Somatic Inventory which gauges psychosomatic morbidity, and Self Reporting Questionnaire, which measures psychological distress. Result – Somatization disorder as defined by Bradford, and psychological morbidity were relatively common in primary care settings. There was significant positive correlation between indices of somatization and psychological morbidity. Conclusion – Omani patients seeking primary health care equally experience both psychological distress as well as somatic ones. This finding challenges the old notion that people in developing countries generally express distress somatically.