Koro (medicine) - Classification

Classification

In DSM-IV-TR, koro is listed as one of the entries in the Glossary of Culture-Bound Syndromes of Appendix I. The manual gives koro's definition as "a term, probably of Malaysian origin, that refers to an episode of sudden and intense anxiety that the penis (or, in females, the vulva and nipples) will recede into the body and possibly cause death." Attempts by numerous authors to sub-group culture-bound syndromes place koro into different classes according to the system of classification, such as the group of "specific culture-imposed nosophobia" (classification with cardinal sign), "the genital retraction taxon" (classification with common factors between syndromes), and the group with "culture-related beliefs as causes for the occurrence" (classification according to how the syndromes might be affected by cultural factors).

Various authors have attempted to distinguish between complete and incomplete forms of koro, as well as cultural and non-cultural forms. Cultural forms are said to involve a cultural belief or myth which plays a role in the genesis and spread of the disease in the community, and are regarded as complete forms, fulfilling all the criteria of the symptom complex. Differentiation into primary koro (as a culture-bound expression) and secondary koro (co-morbid with a CNS disorder or another psychiatric disorder; or drug-induced) has been proposed.

Traditional Chinese medicine recognised koro as a sexual disease and classified it into two categories, namely "cold conglomeration in liver" and "depletion of kidney's yang".