Plain language summary
Living with a chronic disease is often accompanied by feelings of worry and has been termed health anxiety (HA). HA is complex, with aspects of psychological and environmental factors that affect its development. This systematic review aimed to determine the prevalence, course and who is most likely to be affected by HA. The results showed that most research studies consider this to be a symptom of the disease and not a psychological illness. The development of HA should be considered on a continuum going from mild and transient to severe. There is no agreement on when the disease should be considered excessive. It was concluded that fears of the illness or symptoms worsening or returning are often experienced by those with a chronic disease.
Abstract
BACKGROUND Patients with chronic diseases commonly report fears of illness or symptoms recurring or worsening. These fears have been addressed from an illness-specific perspective (e.g., fear of cancer recurrence), a generic illness perspective (e.g., fear of progression), and a psychiatric perspective (DSM-5 illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder). The broader concept of health anxiety (HA) can also be applied to patients with a chronic disease. This review was conducted to investigate the conceptual, theoretical, measurement-overlap, and differences between these distinct perspectives. We also aimed to summarize prevalence, course, and correlates of these fears in different chronic illnesses. METHODS We used PsycINFO, PubMED, CINAHL, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and PSYNDEX to conduct a systematic review of studies pertaining to these fears in chronic illness published from January 1996 to October 2017. A total of 401 articles were retained. RESULTS There were commonalities across different conceptualizations and diseases: a high prevalence of clinical levels of fears (>20%), a stable course over time, and a deleterious impact on quality of life. Reviewed studies used definitions, models, and measures that were illness-specific, with only a minority employing a psychiatric perspective, limiting cross-disease generalizability. There appears to be some applicability of DSM-5 disorders to the experience of fear of illness/symptoms in patients with a chronic illness. While conceptualizing HA on a continuum ranging from mild and transient to severe may be appropriate, there is a lack of agreement about when the level of fear becomes 'excessive.' The definitions, models, and measures of HA across chronic illnesses involve affective, cognitive, behavioral, and perceptual features. CONCLUSIONS The concept of HA may offer a unifying conceptual perspective on the fears of illness/symptoms worsening or returning commonly experienced by those with chronic disease.
Methodological quality
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