Hallucinations in Latino psychiatric outpatients: a preliminary investigation

Accuracy of diagnosis and efficacy of treatment depend on recognition of cultural variation in symptomatology of mental illness. Caribbean Latinos have been observed to present in outpatient settings with a higher than expected prevalence of hallucinations; however little is known about this phenomenon and whether it reflects psychotic illness. This study is a retrospective record review of 54 Spanish-speaking psychiatric outpatients who were evaluated in their own language. Demographic and clinical data were extracted from the records and relationships to hallucinations were examined. Of the total sample, 46% reported hallucinations, and 84% of these were simple (e.g., hearing one's name called). Thought disorder was diagnosed in only 9% of the sample. Caribbean Latinos presented to this outpatient mental health setting with a high rate of perceptual symptoms in the absence of other signs of psychosis. Since hallucinations are known to be nonspecific, the symptoms reported in this patient sample are best understood as nonpsychotic hallucinations. Further research is necessary to clarify the epidemiological and cultural aspects of this phenomenon, and to guide treatment.