Exploring the symptomatology and assessment of emetophobia: A comprehensive scoping review

Abstract

Emetophobia, the specific fear of vomiting, is a poorly understood anxiety disorder. Despite a growing body of research, comprehensive reviews on its presentation and assessment are limited and dated. This scoping review maps, synthesises and explores existing literature on the assessment measures and symptomatology of emetophobia. Its purpose is to inform future clinical practices by identifying reliable assessment instruments and facilitating more accurate diagnosis, treatment planning, and research comparisons. Five online databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, PsyArXiy) were searched using terms related to emetophobia. In total, 483 unique articles were located of which 38 were eligible for inclusion (35 described symptomatology; 3 described assessment measures). Among studies exploring symptoms, 17 were single case studies, 11 were cross-sectional surveys and 7 were other designs (e.g., case series, retrospective studies). Findings indicate that emetophobia is a multifaceted condition consisting of physical, psychological and behavioural symptoms. Avoidance behaviours are the most frequently reported symptom, described in 91 % of included literature. There is little research exploring the differences in child and adult symptom presentation which may result in misdiagnosis if an adult-centric criteria is applied. Two self-report questionnaires have been created and their psychometric properties assessed but, given numerous studies relied on longer, unvalidated assessment measures, these two measures appear to need further development. This review establishes that emetophobia is a complex and debilitating condition impacting multiple domains of life. Its findings will inform future research into the development and evaluation of tailored interventions targeting the specific presentation of emetophobia.