Distribution of health anxiety in a general adult population and associations with demographic and social network characteristics
Abstract Background Health anxiety (HA) is associated with increased risk of disability, increased health care utilization and reduced quality of life. However, there is no consensus on which factors are important for the level of HA. The aim of this study was to explore the distribution of HA in a...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0033291720004122 2024-09-15T18:39:27+00:00 Distribution of health anxiety in a general adult population and associations with demographic and social network characteristics Norbye, Anja Davis Abelsen, Birgit Førde, Olav Helge Ringberg, Unni 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0033291720004122 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033291720004122 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Psychological Medicine volume 52, issue 12, page 2255-2262 ISSN 0033-2917 1469-8978 journal-article 2020 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291720004122 2024-08-28T04:03:17Z Abstract Background Health anxiety (HA) is associated with increased risk of disability, increased health care utilization and reduced quality of life. However, there is no consensus on which factors are important for the level of HA. The aim of this study was to explore the distribution of HA in a general adult population and to investigate whether demographic and social factors were associated with HA. Methods This study used cross-sectional data from the seventh Tromsø study. A total of 18 064 participants aged 40 years or older were included in the analysis. The six-item Whiteley Index (WI-6) with a 5-point Likert scale was used to measure HA. Sociodemographic factors included age, sex, education, household income, quality of friendship and participation in an organized activity. Results HA showed an exponential distribution among the participants with a median score of 2 points out of 24 points. In total, 75% had a total score of 5 points or less, whereas 1% had a score >14 points. Education, household income, quality of friendship and participation in organized activity were significantly associated with HA. The variable quality of friendship demonstrated the strongest association with HA. Conclusion Our study showed an exponential distribution of HA in a general adult population. There was no evident cut-off point to distinguish participants with severe HA based on their WI-6 score, indicating the importance of analysing HA as a complex, continuous construct. HA demonstrated strong associations with quality of friendship and participation in an organized activity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tromsø Cambridge University Press Psychological Medicine 1 8 |
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Abstract Background Health anxiety (HA) is associated with increased risk of disability, increased health care utilization and reduced quality of life. However, there is no consensus on which factors are important for the level of HA. The aim of this study was to explore the distribution of HA in a general adult population and to investigate whether demographic and social factors were associated with HA. Methods This study used cross-sectional data from the seventh Tromsø study. A total of 18 064 participants aged 40 years or older were included in the analysis. The six-item Whiteley Index (WI-6) with a 5-point Likert scale was used to measure HA. Sociodemographic factors included age, sex, education, household income, quality of friendship and participation in an organized activity. Results HA showed an exponential distribution among the participants with a median score of 2 points out of 24 points. In total, 75% had a total score of 5 points or less, whereas 1% had a score >14 points. Education, household income, quality of friendship and participation in organized activity were significantly associated with HA. The variable quality of friendship demonstrated the strongest association with HA. Conclusion Our study showed an exponential distribution of HA in a general adult population. There was no evident cut-off point to distinguish participants with severe HA based on their WI-6 score, indicating the importance of analysing HA as a complex, continuous construct. HA demonstrated strong associations with quality of friendship and participation in an organized activity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Norbye, Anja Davis Abelsen, Birgit Førde, Olav Helge Ringberg, Unni |
spellingShingle |
Norbye, Anja Davis Abelsen, Birgit Førde, Olav Helge Ringberg, Unni Distribution of health anxiety in a general adult population and associations with demographic and social network characteristics |
author_facet |
Norbye, Anja Davis Abelsen, Birgit Førde, Olav Helge Ringberg, Unni |
author_sort |
Norbye, Anja Davis |
title |
Distribution of health anxiety in a general adult population and associations with demographic and social network characteristics |
title_short |
Distribution of health anxiety in a general adult population and associations with demographic and social network characteristics |
title_full |
Distribution of health anxiety in a general adult population and associations with demographic and social network characteristics |
title_fullStr |
Distribution of health anxiety in a general adult population and associations with demographic and social network characteristics |
title_full_unstemmed |
Distribution of health anxiety in a general adult population and associations with demographic and social network characteristics |
title_sort |
distribution of health anxiety in a general adult population and associations with demographic and social network characteristics |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0033291720004122 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033291720004122 |
genre |
Tromsø |
genre_facet |
Tromsø |
op_source |
Psychological Medicine volume 52, issue 12, page 2255-2262 ISSN 0033-2917 1469-8978 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291720004122 |
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Psychological Medicine |
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8 |
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1810483822789132288 |