GLOBUS PHARYNGIS, PERSONALITY, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN THE GENERAL-POPULATION

The authors approached 1,158 middle-aged women, who were assessed for the presence of the globus sensation in the prior 3 months. Seventy gl obus ''cases'' (6.0%) were identified. Twenty-eight women with globus and 35 control subjects completed a series of questionnaires designed to assess personality traits and psychological distress. The globus su bjects were significantly higher on neuroticism and low on extraversio n and had significantly elevated levels of psychological distress, inc luding anxiety, low mood, and somatic concern when compared with the c ontrol subjects. Severity of throat symptoms, but not personality or p sychological distress scores, predicted the degree of medical help sou ght for the symptom.