Prevalence of health anxiety problems in medical clinics

Reference:

Tyrer, P., Cooper, S., Crawford, M., Dupont, S., Green, J., Murphy, D., Salkovskis, P. M., Smith, G., Wang, D. L., Bhogal, S., Keeling, M., Loebenberg, G., Seivewright, R., Walker, G., Cooper, F., Evered, R., Kings, S., Kramo, K., McNulty, A., Nagar, J., Reid, S., Sanatinia, R., Sinclair, J., Trevor, D., Watson, C. and Tyrer, H., 2011. Prevalence of health anxiety problems in medical clinics. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 71 (6), pp. 392-394.

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Official URL:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.07.004

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of significant health anxiety (hypochondriasis) in patients aged 16 - 75 in cardiology, respiratory medicine, neurological, endocrine and gastrointestinal clinics in general hospitals in London, Middlesex and North Nottinghamshire. Method: The Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) (short form) was administered to patients attending the five clinics over a 21 month period and all those who scored 20 or more invited to take part in a further assessment for a randomised controlled trial. Results: Of 43,205 patients attending the clinics 28,991 (67.1%) were assessed and of these, after exclusion of ineligible patients 5747 (19.8%) had significant health anxiety. 444 subsequently agreed to take part in a randomised controlled trial of treatment. The prevalence levels varied by clinic with neurology (24.7%) having the highest prevalence followed by respiratory medicine (20.9%), gastroenterology (19.5%), cardiology (19.1%), and endocrinology (17.5%). Conclusion: Abnormal health anxiety is common and a significant problem in those attending medical clinics and deserves greater awareness.

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