Objective: This review aims to verify the scientific evidences for the inclusion of culture bound syndromes in the International Classification of Diseases towards its 11th edition based on studies from Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Method: Studies were identified in Medline, LILACS and EMBASE databases for the period between 1992 and 2008, and then classified according to the type of study, to the mental disorder, country and number of publications per year.
Results: 163 studies were selected and classified: 33 in MedlLne, 90 in EMBASE e 40 in LILACS. The percentage of culture bound-syndrome corresponded to 9% in Medline, 12% in EMBASE e 2.5% in LILACS. Among fifteen studies on cultural bound syndromes, two were about "nervios and ataque de nervios", two about "susto", four about the relationship between religion beliefs, witchery, trance and mental disorders, one with a proposal for new diagnostic category, three about theoretic issues and three about the pathoplasty of mental disorders.
Conclusion: The scarcity of studies on culture bound syndromes might be due to the indexation problems hindering the screening of studies; lack of interest on publishing such studies in indexed journals (publication bias) and due to difficulty to access them. There is no robust evidence identified among cross-cultural studies to recommend changes for International Classification of Diseases-11th edition.