Prevalence of health anxiety problems in medical clinics

Peter Tyrer; Sylvia Cooper; Mike Crawford; Simon Dupont; John Green; David Murphy; Paul Salkovskis; Georgina Smith; Duolao Wang; Sharandeep Bhogal; Mary Keeling; Gemma Loebenberg; Richard Seivewright; Gemma Walker; Faye Cooper; Rachel Evered; Stephanie Kings; Kofi Kramo; Antoinette McNulty; Jessica Nagar; Steven Reid; Rahil Sanatinia; Julie Sinclair; David Trevor; Charlotte Watson; Helen Tyrer

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.07.004

Prevalence of health anxiety problems in medical clinics

Peter Tyrer
, Sylvia Cooper
, Mike Crawford
, Simon Dupont
, John Green
, David Murphy
, Paul Salkovskis
, Georgina Smith
, Duolao Wang
, Sharandeep Bhogal
, Mary Keeling
, Gemma Loebenberg
, Richard Seivewright
, Gemma Walker
, Faye Cooper
, Rachel Evered
, Stephanie Kings
, Kofi Kramo
, Antoinette McNulty
, Jessica Nagar

Steven Reid, Rahil Sanatinia, Julie Sinclair, David Trevor, Charlotte Watson, Helen Tyrer

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

127 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	392-394
Number of pages	3
Journal	Journal of Psychosomatic Research
Volume	71
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.07.004
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2011
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Health anxiety
Hypochondriasis
Prevalence
Secondary care

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10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.07.004

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Tyrer, P., Cooper, S., Crawford, M., Dupont, S., Green, J., Murphy, D., Salkovskis, P., Smith, G., Wang, D., Bhogal, S., Keeling, M., Loebenberg, G., Seivewright, R., Walker, G., Cooper, F., Evered, R., Kings, S., Kramo, K., McNulty, A., ... Tyrer, H. (2011). Prevalence of health anxiety problems in medical clinics. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 71(6), 392-394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.07.004

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title = "Prevalence of health anxiety problems in medical clinics",

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.",

keywords = "Health anxiety, Hypochondriasis, Prevalence, Secondary care",

author = "Peter Tyrer and Sylvia Cooper and Mike Crawford and Simon Dupont and John Green and David Murphy and Paul Salkovskis and Georgina Smith and Duolao Wang and Sharandeep Bhogal and Mary Keeling and Gemma Loebenberg and Richard Seivewright and Gemma Walker and Faye Cooper and Rachel Evered and Stephanie Kings and Kofi Kramo and Antoinette McNulty and Jessica Nagar and Steven Reid and Rahil Sanatinia and Julie Sinclair and David Trevor and Charlotte Watson and Helen Tyrer",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.07.004",

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Tyrer, P, Cooper, S, Crawford, M, Dupont, S, Green, J, Murphy, D, Salkovskis, P, Smith, G, Wang, D, 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 & Tyrer, H 2011, 'Prevalence of health anxiety problems in medical clinics', Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 71, no. 6, pp. 392-394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.07.004

TY - JOUR

T1 - Prevalence of health anxiety problems in medical clinics

AU - Tyrer, Peter

AU - Cooper, Sylvia

AU - Crawford, Mike

AU - Dupont, Simon

AU - Green, John

AU - Murphy, David

AU - Salkovskis, Paul

AU - Smith, Georgina

AU - Wang, Duolao

AU - Bhogal, Sharandeep

AU - Keeling, Mary

AU - Loebenberg, Gemma

AU - Seivewright, Richard

AU - Walker, Gemma

AU - Cooper, Faye

AU - Evered, Rachel

AU - Kings, Stephanie

AU - Kramo, Kofi

AU - McNulty, Antoinette

AU - Nagar, Jessica

AU - Reid, Steven

AU - Sanatinia, Rahil

AU - Sinclair, Julie

AU - Trevor, David

AU - Watson, Charlotte

AU - Tyrer, Helen

PY - 2011/12/1

Y1 - 2011/12/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Health anxiety

KW - Hypochondriasis

KW - Prevalence

KW - Secondary care

U2 - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.07.004

DO - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.07.004

M3 - Article

SN - 0022-3999

VL - 71

SP - 392

EP - 394

JO - Journal of Psychosomatic Research

JF - Journal of Psychosomatic Research

IS - 6

ER -

Prevalence of health anxiety problems in medical clinics

Abstract

Keywords

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