Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-sl7kg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-10T13:34:43.229Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Controlled Trial of Cognitive–Behavioural Treatment of Hypochondriasis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Hilary M. C. Warwick ,
David M. Clark ,
Andrew M. Cobb  and
Paul M. Salkovskis
Hilary M. C. Warwick*
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, currently at the Department of General Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School
David M. Clark
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital
Andrew M. Cobb
Affiliation:
Professorial Unit, Warneford Hospital
Paul M. Salkovskis
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX
*
Dr H. M. C. Warwick, Department of General Psychiatry, St George's Hospital Medical School, Blackshaw Road, London SW17 0RE
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Hypochondriasis is a distressing disorder for which there is no adequate established treatment. This study evaluates the effect of cognitive–behavioural treatment of hypochondriasis, compared with a waiting list control.

Method

Thirty-two patients were randomly assigned to either cognitive–behavioural therapy or a no treatment waiting list control. Cognitive–behavioural treatment consisted of 16 individual treatment sessions over a four-month period. The waiting list control lasted for four months and was followed by 16 sessions of cognitive–behavioural treatment. Assessments were made before allocation and after treatment or waiting list control. Patients who had cognitive–behavioural treatment were reassessed three months after completion of treatment.

Results

Paired comparisons on post-treatment/wait scores indicated that the cognitive–behavioural group showed significantly greater improvements than the waiting list on all but one patient rating, all therapist ratings and all assessor ratings. After three months the benefits of therapy were maintained.

Conclusions

Cognitive–behavioural treatment is an effective therapy for hypochondriasis. Implications of the study are discussed.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 169 , Issue 2 , August 1996 , pp. 189 - 195
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 3rd edn, revised (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., et al (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., et al (1988) An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 893–897.Google Scholar
Bianchi, G. N. (1973) Patterns of hypochondriasis: a principal components analysis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 541–548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, D. M. (1989) Anxiety states: panic and generalized anxiety. In Cognitive Therapy for Psychiatric Problems: A Practical Guide (eds Hawton, K., Salkovskis, P., Kirk, J., et al), pp. 52–96. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gelder, M. G., Gath, D. & Mayou, R. A. (1983) Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kenyon, F. E. (1964) Hypochondriasis: a clinical study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 110, 478–488.Google Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M. (1989) Somatic problems. In Cognitive Therapy for Psychiatric Problems: A Practical Guide (eds Hawton, K., Salkovskis, P., Kirk, J., et al). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M. & Warwick, H. M. C. (1986) Morbid preoccupations, health anxiety and reassurance: A cognitive behavioural approach to hypochondriasis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 24, 597–602.Google Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M. & Clark, D. M. (1991) Cognitive therapy for panic disorder. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 5, 215–226.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L. & Williams, J. B. (1986) Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–III–R. New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute, Biometrics Research Department.Google Scholar
Stern, R. & Fernandez, M. (1991) Group cognitive and behavioural treatment for hypochondriasis. British Medical Journal, 303, 1229–1230.Google Scholar
Warwick, H. M. C. & Marks, I. M. (1988) Behavioural treatment of illness phobia and hypochondriasis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 239–241.Google Scholar
Warwick, H. M. C. & Salkovskis, P. M. (1989) Hypochondriasis. In Cognitive Therapy: a Clinical Casebook (eds Scott, J., Williams, J. & Beck, A. T.), pp. 78–102. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Warwick, H. M. C. & Salkovskis, P. M. (1990) Hypochondriasis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, 105–117.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.