A study on phenomenology of Dhat syndrome in men in a general medical setting

Background: "Dhat syndrome" is believed to be a culture-bound syndrome of the Indian subcontinent. Although many studies have been performed, many have methodological limitations and there is a lack of agreement in many areas.

Aims: The aim is to study the phenomenology of "Dhat syndrome" in men and to explore the possibility of subtypes within this entity.

Settings and design: It is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at a sex and marriage counseling clinic of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Northern India.

Materials and methods: An operational definition and assessment instrument for "Dhat syndrome" was developed after taking all concerned stakeholders into account and review of literature. It was applied on 100 patients along with socio-demographic profile, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, and Postgraduate Institute Neuroticism Scale.

Statistical analysis: For statistical analysis, descriptive statistics, group comparisons, and Pearson's product moment correlations were carried out. Factor analysis and cluster analysis were done to determine the factor structure and subtypes of "Dhat syndrome."

Results: A diagnostic and assessment instrument for "Dhat syndrome" has been developed and the phenomenology in 100 patients has been described. Both the health beliefs scale and associated symptoms scale demonstrated a three-factor structure. The patients with "Dhat syndrome" could be categorized into three clusters based on severity.

Conclusions: There appears to be a significant agreement among various stakeholders on the phenomenology of "Dhat syndrome" although some differences exist. "Dhat syndrome" could be subtyped into three clusters based on severity.