The Pattern of Psychiatric Comorbidities in Globus: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital in Kashmir, North India

Background and Aims: Globus is the physical sensation of a lump in the throat presenting as difficulty in swallowing. Since there is a paucity of literature regarding the psychiatric comorbidity in globus, we aimed to study the psychiatric comorbidities in these patients visiting a tertiary care center in Kashmir. Materials and Methods: It was a noncontrolled, noninterventional, cross-sectional, hospital-based study carried out from August 2014 to July 2015 among the patients with a diagnosis of globus. Patients were selected from the outpatient unit, visiting the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences Kashmir. About 51 patients with globus who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and gave written informed consent were selected as study cases. For diagnosing psychiatric comorbidities, we used the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Results: The mean age of our cases was 39.58 years. Females outnumbered males in cases by a ratio of 3:1 approximately. Psychiatric disorders were seen in 70.588% of globus patients. Major psychiatric disorders seen in our patients were major depressive episode (23.53%) and generalized anxiety disorders (11.76%). Conclusions: Majority of patients with globus who present to a tertiary care center have comorbid psychiatric disorders. We need to screen these patients for such comorbidities and develop a holistic approach for better outcome in such cases.