Clinical Trial: Metacognitive Therapy for Health Anxiety
Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: Metacognitive Therapy for Health Anxiety: A Randomised Control Trial
Brief Summary: The study involves a comparing a new psychological treatment- Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) which has shown promising results in the treatment of health anxiety to no treatment at all- a waiting list.
Detailed Summary:
Hypochondriasis or severe health anxiety is characterised by excessive, disproportionate and persistent thoughts, behaviour and emotion focused on physical symptoms and/or fear of developing a serious illness. There is often excessive worry about illness or disease in the absence of supporting medical evidence and contrary to continual medical reassurance.
The most effective psychological treatments are cognitive and behavioural therapies (CBT). However, CBT has failed to demonstrate consistent gains in the treatment of this disorder.
A newer form of psychological therapy, Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) has shown to be more effective than CBT in the treatment of anxiety disorders and depression. MCT is based on the principle that health anxiety is caused by a pattern of extended thinking, this pattern is called the Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS). The CAS is made up of chains of verbal thought in the form of excessive worry about having an illness; a pattern of focusing attention on threat, such as scanning the body for signs of illness and excessive body checking; and coping strategies that have negative effects, such as internet searching for illnesses or trying to block out thoughts of illness. Rather than stopping negative thinking the CAS extends it and leads to the belief that illness is present. To help reduce these symptoms MCT teaches specific techniques that help people develop new ways of experiencing negative thoughts about illnesses, allow them to abandon worry and learn to disengage from unhelpful coping attempts.
A recent small study has provided some limited evidence that metacognitive therapy (MCT) can be applied to cases of hypochondriasis and demonstrated that the therapy was associated with improvement in symptoms.
Original Primary Outcome: Same as current
Current Secondary Outcome:
- Change in anxiety levels over 12weeks of treatment measured by the Beck Anxiety Inventory [ Time Frame: This will be administered in the first and last treatment session (week 1 and week 12) by the study investigators, and once at 6 months follow up following treatment completion ]Will be used as a measure of anxiety
- Change in general metacognition levels over 12weeks of treatment measured by the The Metacognitions Questionaire-30 (MCQ-30) [ Time Frame: This will be administered in the first and last treatment session (week 1 and week 12) by the study investigators, and once at 6 months follow up following treatment completion ]will be used to examine general positive and negative beliefs about worrying thoughts, attitudes & processes.
- Change in depression levels over 12weeks of treatment measured by the Beck Depression inventory [ Time Frame: This will be administered in the first and last treatment session (week 1 and week 12) by the study investigators, and once at 6 months follow up following treatment completion ]Will be used as general mood measures
- Change in health anxious metacognition levels over 12weeks of treatment measured by the The Meta-Cognitions about Health Questionnaire (MCHQ) [ Time Frame: This will be administered in the first and last treatment session (week 1 and week 12) by the study investigators, and once at 6 months follow up following treatment completion ]Specific metacognitive beliefs associated with health anxiety
- Change in dysfunctional beliefs over 12weeks of treatment measured by the Health cognition Questionnaire [ Time Frame: This will be administered in the first and last treatment session (week 1 and week 12) by the study investigators, and once at 6 months follow up following treatment completion ]Dysfunctional beliefs associated with health anxiety
Original Secondary Outcome: Same as current
Information By: University of Manchester
Dates:
Date Received: March 23, 2015
Date Started: March 2015
Date Completion:
Last Updated: February 6, 2017
Last Verified: February 2017
