title: Investigation of health anxiety and related factors in Chinese patients with physical disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the prevalence of health anxiety (HA) and related factors in Chinese patients with physical diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three-hundred twenty-eight patients completed a series of scales about personality, HA, and quality of life (QoL).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of HA in all patients was 42.07%. HA was significantly correlated with neuroticism, alexithymia, and QoL. Moreover, physical and psychological QoL as well as neuroticism could predict 41.8% of HA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nurses should pay more attention to the HA of patients with physical diseases. Appropriate psychological interventions need to be used to improve patients' HA and QoL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.|School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuqun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Pengcheng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shengqin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Nursing Department, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guohong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Education and Research Center of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Aiming
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yonggui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: alexithymia; health anxiety; personality; physical illness; quality of life