ABSTRACT

Choking phobia, better referred to as phagophobia, leads to significant dietary restriction or complete refusal to eat and drink, which may result in dehydration, and/or malnutrition. Current literature is limited to case reports. Therefore, the current study is a summary of the outcomes from a multidisciplinary approach including medical and behavioral intervention to treat phagophobia. Participants included eight children (4 females) with a mean age of 9.63 years, who consumed nothing to minimal intake orally. A medical workup and appropriate interventions were completed prior to behavioral treatment. Participants completed outpatient behavioral feeding treatment with one requiring intensive outpatient therapy. Three of eight participants started an anti-anxiolytic medication due to significant anxiety. There was a statistically significant increase in food consumption (t = -4.275, p = .004) and weight pre- to post-treatment (t = -4.004, p = .005). The present study is a preliminary investigation supporting the use of a brief multidisciplinary treatment for children with phagophobia so they can resume an age-appropriate diet again. Limitations of this study include a small sample size, convenience sampling, and protocol that is not yet standardized.

摘要

窒息恐惧症（通常称为恐惧症）会导致严重的饮食限制或完全拒绝进食和饮水，这可能导致脱水和/或营养不良。当前文献仅限于病例报告。因此，本研究总结了多学科方法的结果，包括药物和行为干预以治疗恐惧症。参与者包括8名平均年龄为9.63岁的儿童（4名女性），他们很少进食，甚至很少口服。在进行行为治疗之前，应先进行医学检查和适当的干预。参与者完成了门诊行为喂养治疗，其中一项需要强化门诊治疗。八名参与者中的三名因严重焦虑症而开始使用抗焦虑药。p = .004）和治疗前后的体重（t = -4.004，p = .005）。本研究是一项初步研究，支持对恐惧症的儿童使用简短的多学科治疗，以便他们可以重新开始适合年龄的饮食。这项研究的局限性包括样本量小，方便抽样以及尚未标准化的协议。