Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2014 Jun 12;7:161-6. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S55393. eCollection 2014.
The number of immigrants in Italy has doubled every 10 years from 1972 and Genoa hosts two large communities of immigrants from South America and Africa. We investigated differences in the somatic perception between immigrants and Italians and between South Americans and Africans living in the city of Genoa. During a 7 month period, an anonymous questionnaire asking for sociodemographic information and the Modified Somatic Perception Questionnaire (MSPQ) were administered to all immigrants accessing an outpatient clinic or the general practitioners offices. MSPQ mean scores were significantly higher in immigrant patients than in Italian patients, after adjusting for sex and age differences. We found no differences between South Americans and Africans in MSPQ score. The tendency to express discomfort through physical symptoms appears to be related to being a foreigner who arrived in Italy through a migratory trip and also to being a person who comes from a cultural context that is very different from the one of developed countries.
意大利的移民人数从 1972 年起每 10 年翻一番，热那亚有两个来自南美和非洲的大型移民社区。我们调查了移民和意大利人之间以及居住在热那亚市的南美人与非洲人之间的躯体知觉差异。在 7 个月的时间里，向所有在门诊或全科医生办公室就诊的移民匿名发放了一份问卷，询问社会人口统计学信息和修改后的躯体知觉问卷（MSPQ）。调整性别和年龄差异后，移民患者的 MSPQ 平均得分明显高于意大利患者。我们没有发现南美人与非洲人在 MSPQ 评分上的差异。通过身体症状表达不适的倾向似乎与作为一个通过移民旅行来到意大利的外国人有关，也与一个来自与发达国家非常不同的文化背景的人有关。
