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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.