Social and Economic Survey Research Institute-SESRI, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
Schizophr Bull. 2023 Feb 24;49(12 Suppl 2):S13-S24. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbac086.
While literature indicates that culture modulates phenomenological characteristics of hallucinations in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, little is known about the extent culture modulates these characteristics in nonclinical samples.
We compared lifetime prevalence, age of onset, and phenomenology of hallucinations as assessed with the Questionnaire for Psychotic Experiences between samples of nonclinical participants used from the Netherlands (N = 2999) and Qatar (N = 2999). While participant recruitment differed between the 2 countries, the samples were relatively equal in terms of demographic factors.
Our findings indicate that the lifetime prevalence of tactile and olfactory hallucinations are the same across countries. However, the prevalence of auditory hallucinations (AH) and visual hallucinations (VH) were twice as high in the Dutch sample. The reported age of onset for auditory and tactile hallucinations was younger for the Dutch sample. Findings from the measurement invariance supported cross-cultural comparisons with exception for duration, distress, and insight. Qatar's and Dutch participants reported similar valence and extent of interaction with AH and VH. However, compared to those in the Netherlands, participants from Qatar reported significantly more impact on daily functioning and a higher prevalence of receiving commands from hallucinations in the past week.
While AH and VH were more often reported in the Dutch sample, participants in Qatar generally had higher mean factor scores for past week AH and VH than in the Netherlands. The phenomenology of hallucinations in the Qatar sample was of greater clinical relevance, with potentially important implications for early screening and prevention.
尽管文献表明文化会调节精神分裂症谱系障碍患者幻觉的现象学特征，但对于文化在非临床样本中对这些特征的调节程度知之甚少。
我们比较了使用来自荷兰（N=2999）和卡塔尔（N=2999）的非临床参与者样本的《精神病经验问卷》评估的幻觉的终身患病率、发病年龄和现象学。虽然两个国家的参与者招募方式不同，但样本在人口统计学因素方面相对均等。
我们的研究结果表明，触觉和嗅觉幻觉的终身患病率在两国之间相同。然而，荷兰样本中听觉幻觉（AH）和视觉幻觉（VH）的患病率是其两倍。听觉和触觉幻觉的报告发病年龄在荷兰样本中更年轻。除了持续时间、困扰和洞察力外，测量不变性的结果支持跨文化比较。卡塔尔和荷兰的参与者报告了与 AH 和 VH 相似的效价和互动程度。然而，与荷兰相比，卡塔尔的参与者报告了对日常生活功能的更大影响，以及过去一周内从幻觉中收到命令的更高患病率。
尽管 AH 和 VH 在荷兰样本中更常被报告，但卡塔尔参与者过去一周 AH 和 VH 的平均因子得分通常高于荷兰。卡塔尔样本的幻觉现象学更具有临床相关性，对早期筛查和预防具有重要意义。
