Oropharyngeal dysphagia and its psychiatric comorbidities: the prevalence of affective symptoms and the unmet clinical need for integrated care in medically unexplained symptoms

This dissertation focusses on psychiatric comorbidities in patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia. It is shown that approximately half of patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia also have symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, the severity of oropharyngeal dysphagia does not appear to be associated with these psychiatric symptoms, which highlights the complexity of this problem. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were also shown to be a frequent occurrence in patients with medically unexplained symptoms of oropharyngeal dysphagia. A psychiatric diagnosis was made in almost 80% of patients with other medically unexplained ear, nose and throat symptoms. Therefore, more attention should be paid to psychiatric problems during ENT consultations. Involving a psychiatrist more frequently in a multidisciplinary treatment team appears to be useful.