Hypochondriasis Linked to Increased Risk of Death

People who have hypochondriasis (health anxiety disorder) may have an increased risk of dying by either natural or unnatural causes, including death by suicide, compared with people who do not have the disorder, astudy inJAMA Psychiatry has found. According to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), people who have the disorder are preoccupied with thoughts that they have one or more serious and progressive physical disorders and repeatedly check for symptoms and seek reassurance from health professionals.“[T]hese findings illustrate a paradox, whereby individuals with hypochondriasis have an increased risk of death despite their pervasive fears of illness and death,” wrote David Mataix-Cols, Ph.D., of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm and colleagues.The researchers examined data from 4,129 people aged 6 years and older in the Swedish National Patient Register who received a diagnosis of hypochondriasis between January 1, 1997, and December 31, 2020, at the age of 6 years or older. The researchers matched those individuals with 41,290 demographically similar people without hypochondriasis. All individuals were followed until the date of death, emigration from Sweden, or the end of the study on December 31, 2020, whichever occurred first.A total of 268 individuals with hypochondriasis and 1,761 individuals without hypochondriasis died of all causes during the follow-up. Those with hypochondriasis d...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: anxiety death depression health anxiety disorder hypochondriasis ICD-10 JAMA Psychiatry respiratory disease suicide Source Type: research