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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Do patients with pathological health anxiety fear COVID-19? A time-course analysis of 12 single cases during the “first wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

Andrea SchmidtKaroline Sophie SauerJosef BailerStefanie M. JungmannMichael Witthöft

subject

education.field_of_studyCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)SARS-CoV-2business.industrySevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)PopulationCOVID-19Virus anxietyAnxiety fearArticleHypochondriasisPsychiatry and Mental healthClinical PsychologyHealth anxietyTime coursePandemicmedicineAnxietymedicine.symptomeducationbusinessPathologicalClinical psychology

description

Objective Pre-existing health anxiety is associated with an intensified affective response to the novel COVID-19 pandemic in the general population. Still, results on the reaction of people with a diagnosis of pathological health anxiety (i.e., hypochondriasis) are scarce. Methods In the present study, we investigated the course of (health) anxiety related to SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 in comparison to (health) anxiety related to other severe diseases (e.g., cancer) in a sample of 12 patients with the diagnosis of pathological health anxiety during the “first wave” of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Both SARS-CoV-2 related anxiety and anxiety related to other severe diseases were assessed weekly over 16 measurement points (30.03.-19.07.2020) and primarily analyzed with fixed effects regression analyses. Results Unexpectedly, SARS-CoV-2 related anxiety was on average significantly lower than anxiety related to other severe diseases (d = −0.54, p < .001) and not significantly associated with anxiety related to other severe diseases or pre-COVID-19 health anxiety. Conclusion It therefore appears premature to assume that SARS-CoV-2 related anxiety and other health worries are necessarily strongly interrelated and comparably high in people with pathological health anxiety.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2021-12-01Journal of Psychosomatic Research
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2021.110687