Epidemic genital retraction syndrome: environmental and personal risk factors in southern China

J Psychol Human Sex. 1997;9(1):57-70. doi: 10.1300/J056v09n01_04.

Abstract

PIP: Koro is the term used to define the fear that one's sex organ is retracting into the body and that the complete retraction of the organ will result in death. While koro is found mainly among the Chinese and other Asian societies near China, the condition is most prevalent in southern China, where repeated epidemics have occurred. In that region, koro is found only among the Hans, the dominant ethnic group, and is over-represented among people under age 24 years. Koro provokes considerable anxiety in the individual in question and his/her family and neighbors, and is more prevalent among males than females. Men try to pull the penis out from the body or to prevent it from shrinking further by tying a string around the penis or securing it with a clamping device. Some Asian women have reported shrinking breasts, nipples, or labia. Relatives and neighbors of the same sex often help to rescue the organ in question, especially in applying anchoring devices. Others may also believe a person has koro and attempt to rescue their organ without the individual's consent. Injury to the sex organ, including bruises, bleeding, and infection, is common and sometimes results in permanent damage. In general, however, koro attacks are acute, brief, and tend not to recur. The 1984-85 koro epidemic in Hainan Island and Leizhou Peninsula is reviewed to shed light upon prevailing cultural attitudes and beliefs, news and rumors about koro, and anxiety in neighborhoods which may be causative environmental risk factors for koro. Education, age, and marital status are considered as individual risk factors. Koro in China is best described as a social sickness supported by cultural myths which tend to affect young people who are deprived of proper sex information to explain their physical development.

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors*
  • Asia
  • Asia, Eastern
  • Behavior
  • Biology
  • China
  • Culture*
  • Demography
  • Developing Countries
  • Diagnosis
  • Disease
  • Disease Outbreaks*
  • Emotions
  • Environment*
  • Fear*
  • Genitalia*
  • Genitalia, Female*
  • Genitalia, Male*
  • Knowledge*
  • Mortality*
  • Physiology
  • Population
  • Population Characteristics
  • Population Dynamics
  • Psychology
  • Risk Factors*
  • Urogenital System