Does medical school cause health anxiety and worry in medical students?
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate the self-reported experience of health anxiety and worry in medical students compared with control subjects. It was hypothesised that medical students would experience more health anxiety as a consequence of being exposed to medical education, compared to students who are not routinely exposed to such knowledge.


METHODS
The design was cross-sectional.


METHODS
Participants were recruited from London University (Guy's, King's & St Thomas' School of Medicine and King's College).


METHODS
Medical students (n = 449) and non-medical students (n = 485) were recruited across Years 1-4. Questionnaires relating to health anxiety and worry were completed at the end of their lectures.


METHODS
Health anxiety was measured using a questionnaire known as the Health Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ). Worry was assessed using the Anxious Thoughts Inventory (ANTI).


RESULTS
Health anxiety was significantly lower in medical students in Years 1 and 4 than in controls (P = 0.017 and P < 0.001, respectively). Worry was significantly lower in the medical students in all years of study.


CONCLUSIONS
Medical students are not a cohort of preselected health-anxious people, nor are they 'worriers'. Medical education at a clinical level was shown to mitigate health anxiety in the medical student population.
Singh
Gurminder
G
Psychology Unit, Guy's, King's & St. Thomas' School of Medicine, London, UK. gurminder.singh@kcl.ac.uk
Hankins
Matthew
M
Weinman
John A
JA
D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires