Hematophobia in a 15-year-old pediatric patient at the health post in the city of Cerrito – Ñeembucú: Clinical Case

Abstract

Hematophobia is understood as the fear that an individual has of exposure to blood, this type of phobia is one that generates a lot of interest because the cause is somewhat uncertain, the most certain to date is the genetic factor, but even so it is not 100% confirmed that this is a cause of Hematophobia. This type of phobia causes various types of discomfort in the individual; from the mildest (anxiety) to the most complicated (decompensations). The prevalence of blood phobia in the general adult population is 3.1% (Agras, Sylvester and Oliveau 1969). Fear of blood arises in childhood (around the age of seven) with manifestations of mild fear in 44% of children between 6 and 8 years of age and 27% between 9 and 12 years of age (Lapouse and Marks) 1. The clinical case that will be presented refers to a 15-year-old patient who goes to the family health unit located in the city of Cerrito – Ñeembucú, after having gone through the laboratory service to perform his corresponding blood count, the patient begins to present symptoms of hematophobia which triggers a fainting spell. The method used to carry out this research was a descriptive design with an observational approach, using bibliographies from the web and the patient's clinical record.