Article Text
PDF
Statistics from Altmetric.com
OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
Q Are cognitive behavioural therapy and paroxetine more effective than placebo for hypochondriasis?
METHOD
Design:
Randomised controlled trial.
Allocation:
Concealed.
Blinding:
Double blind (paroxetine and pill placebo groups only, blinding for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) group not described).
Follow-up period:
Sixteen weeks.
Setting:
Three psychiatric outpatient units in the Netherlands; January 1998 to July 2002.
Patients:
112 adults (aged over 18 years) with hypochondriasis (DSM-IV). Main exclusions: severe comorbidity; substance abuse; diagnosis of anxiety or depression; use of antidepressants, antipsychotics or anticoagulants; already receiving psychotherapy; pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Intervention:
CBT (6–16 individual sessions as needed), paroxetine (up to 60 mg daily), or pill placebo for 16 weeks.
Outcomes:
Symptoms of hypochondriasis (4-point Likert scale version of the Whiteley Index); response (Jacobson and Truax criteria).
Patient follow-up:
73% completed treatment (75% of CBT group; 70% of paroxetine group; 74% …
Footnotes
For correspondence: Dr Spinhoven, PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden; spinhoven{at}fsw.leidenuniv.nl
Source of funding: Unconditional educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline.
Footnotes
Competing interests: None declared.
Request Permissions
If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.