An examination of the factors that influence costs in medical patients with health anxiety

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• 作者：Barbara Barrett^a ; ^{barbara.m.barrett@kcl.ac.uk} ; Peter Tyrer^b ; Helen Tyrer^b ; Sylvia Cooper^b ; Mike J. Crawford^b ; Sarah Byford^a
• 关键词：Cost ; Health anxiety ; Hypochondriasis ; Secondary care
• 刊名：Journal of Psychosomatic Research
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：170_00223999
• 类别：med
• 出版时间：July, 2012
• 卷：73
• 期：1
• 页码：59-62
• 文件大小：210 K

摘要

Objective

To measure and document the total service cost of patients with health anxiety and to investigate the statistical association between costs and patient characteristics, levels of anxiety and other clinical characteristics.

Methods

Data on services used by 444 people with high health anxiety from five types of secondary care medical outpatient clinics were collected in interview with patients by self-report for the preceding six months. Costs associated with these services were calculated and personal and clinical factors associated with these costs were explored.

Results

Mean total costs over six months were 拢2976 per participant and ranged from 拢146 to 拢25,200. The regression model found higher costs were significantly associated with poorer social functioning and self-reported health-related quality of life. No statistical association was found between severity of health anxiety and cost, and generalised anxiety was inversely related.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that a re-examination of the simple causative relationship between health anxiety and cost in the health anxious is warranted.