A New Fronteer for Italian Speech and Language Therapy: Phagophobia: Italian Translation and Cultural Adaptation of the Food Phobia Survey by V.M. Gonzalez e K.M. Vitousek
Antonio Amitrano, Martina Lombardo
Fagophobia is a pathology that involves the progressive loss of the possibility of eating. This condition is not due to any deficiency of the physiological mechanism of swallowing, but finds its origin in a real phobia that the subject develops for particular foods or whole classes of foods. The effect on the health and quality of life of the subject is relevant. The differential diagnosis is essential to exclude the organic origin of the disorder. The speech therapist is often involved in the first phase of taking charge of the phagophobic subject, when the phobic origin of the disorder is still not completely clear. He participates also in the multidisciplinary management of the treatment phase. Using the skills acquired in the treatment of dysphagia, he could be a valuable help in the development and management of the program of gradual exposure to food avoided. The speech therapist, therefore, must acquire specific skills and operative tools to deal with a relatively new problem. Therefore, the Authors propose the Italian translation of the Food Phobia Survey (Gonzalez & Vitousek, 2004), a specific tool for the evaluation of phagophobia and for the development of rehabilitation programs.
Keywords
Phagophobia, Psychogenic dysphagia, Specific phobias, Evaluation of phagophobia, Treatment of phagophobia.
