The DOI matches its Crossref record; 31 of the 31 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Health Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Open accessAbstract
Background: Health anxiety (HA), or hypochondriasis, is a psychological problem characterized by a preoccupation with the belief that one is physically unwell. A 2007 Cochrane review (Thomson and Page, 2007) found cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to be an effective intervention for individuals with HA. Similar findings were reported in a recent meta-analysis (Olatunji et al., 2014), which did not employ a systematic search strategy. The current review aimed to investigate the efficacy of CBT for HA, and to update the existing reviews. Method: A systematic search was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidance, including randomized controlled trials that compared CBT with a control condition for people with HA. Five hundred and sixty-seven studies were found in the original search, of which 14 were included in the meta-analysis. Results: Meta-analysis was conducted on 21 comparisons and a large effect size for CBT compared with a control condition was found at post therapy d = 1.01 (95% confidence interval 0.77–1.25), as well as at 6- and 12-month follow-up. Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis provides support for the hypothesis that CBT is an effective intervention for HA when compared with a variety of control conditions, e.g. treatment-as-usual, waiting list, medication, and other psychological therapies.
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Efficacy of Hypnosis as a Treatment for Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis
Valentine, K. E., Milling, L. S., Clark, L. J., & Moriarty, C. L. (2019) · International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis · doi:10.1080/00207144.2019.1613863 · Cited by 121
“Finally, Cooper et al. (2017) noted an effect size of 1.45 (95% CI = 1.13 to 1.77) when CBT was utilized to treat health anxiety.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialBajcar, B., & Babiak, J. (2021) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-019-00216-x · Cited by 109
Axelsson, E., & Hedman-Lagerlöf, E. (2019) · Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research · doi:10.1080/14737167.2019.1703182 · Cited by 96
“We did not include RCTs where medically unexplained symptoms, heightened health-care consumption, or distress due to physical symptoms were the principal clinical problem because such phenomena can be present regardless of health anxiety [24,31].”
BackgroundResultIllness Anxiety Disorder: Psychopathology, Epidemiology, Clinical Characteristics, and Treatment.
Scarella, T. M., Boland, R. J., & Barsky, A. J. (2019) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000000691 · Cited by 102
Haig-Ferguson, A., Cooper, K., Cartwright, E., Loades, M. E., & Daniels, J. (2021) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465820000636 · Cited by 84
“CBT is effective in treating HA in adults (Cooper et al., 2017; Hart and Bjorgvinsson, 2010; Newby et al., 2018).”
BackgroundSelf-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Cooper, K., Gregory, J. D., Walker, I., Lambe, S., & Salkovskis, P. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Bath (GB)
- Venue
- Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2017-02-23
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 110-123
- ISSN
- 1352-4658 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-1833
- OpenAlex
- W2541165905
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 1.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (acceptedVersion)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
- The University of Bath Online Publications Store (The University of Bath) (submittedVersion)
- Pure (University of Bath) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- cognitive behavioral therapy, health anxiety, treatment efficacy, psychological intervention, control conditions, follow-up outcomes
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Humans, Hypochondriasis, Psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
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