Advances in Health Anxiety and Its Online Cognitive-behavioral Interventions

Abstract

The development of information dissemination is associated with significantly increased risk of health anxiety (HA) , imposing a heavy burden on individuals and society. Although there are inconsistencies between the evolution and revisions in clinical diagnosis of HA, cognitive-behavioral interventions have been recognized as effective treatments for HA. We reviewed the clinical diagnoses, measurement tools, associated factors and online cognitive-behavioral interventions of HA, then proposed that the concepts and measurement tools of HA need to be further standardized. Main difficulties are the determination of the threshold for intervention and the development of psychological interventions suitable for general practices. Online and face-to-face cognitive-behavioral interventions for HA have similar effects, but the former is more inexpensive and convenient, which deserve to be studied further.

Keywords

• anxiety|hypochondriasis|cognitive behavioral therapy|health anxiety|illness anxiety disorder|cognitive-behavioral intervention|online cognitive-behavioral intervention|review|recent developments