[Epidemiology of social phobia]

Social phobia (SP) represents one of the most frequent psychiatric disorders. The results of a systematic review of the literature published between 1987 and 2008 on the prevalence of SP in general population are reported.

A literature search of epidemiologic studies of SP was conducted on PubMed and Medline electronic archives and by canvassing English-language and other European languages publications. Eligible publications were restricted to community surveys on adult population (age 16 to 65), using DSM and ICD criteria and analysing lifetime, 12 months and 1 month prevalence rates of SP.

Of the general population studies, 45 prevalence studies met the criteria of eligibility. The prevalence rates ranged 0.53%-45.6% (lifetime prevalence); 1.0%-9.10% (12 months prevalence) and 0.96%-7.90% (one month prevalence). In those community samples SP appears to be from 1.1 to 2.6 times more frequent in females than in males.

Our review suggests that SP is a very common disorder worldwide. Epidemiologic data on SP seem to be controversial, especially when considering the prevalence rates. The large variations in prevalence figures are mostly due to methodological differences, whereas an actual lower rate of SP seems to exist in the far East areas. Among the Western countries the rates of SP seem to be similar. A possible explanation to the finding of such a variability in the estimated SP prevalence rates across different countries could involve the transcultural differences regarding each population's expectations about appropriate social and sexual roles.