title: A community-based epidemiological study of health anxiety and generalized anxiety disorder.
abstract: This community-based study examined the frequency of worry about personal health in respondents with and without generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and the impact of health anxiety on the disorder. A random community-based telephone survey of 5118 Chinese respondents aged 18-64 was conducted. A fully structured questionnaire covered the DSM-IV-TR criteria of GAD, major depressive episode (MDE), eight domains of worry, the seven-item Whiteley Index (WI-7), health service use, and socio-demographic information. Worry about personal health ranked fifth (75.6%) among eight domains of worries examined. GAD respondents with high level of health anxiety were significantly older, less educated, and had lower family income. High health anxiety significantly increased the occurrence of one-year MDE, previous persistent worry, previous persistent low mood, number of domains of worries, number of non-core DSM-IV-TR GAD symptoms, health service use, and mistrust of doctors. Health anxiety is common in GAD and may signify greater severity of the disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Hong Kong Mood Disorders Center, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: singlee@cuhk.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Sing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Ivy M H
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Hong Kong Mood Disorders Center, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Kathleen P S
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Kwok
authors.affiliation: Hong Kong Mood Disorders Center, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Candi M C
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Leung
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Generalized anxiety disorder; Health anxiety; Hypochondriasis; Whiteley Index