Metacognitive Therapy for Health Anxiety

Status Completed

Clinical Trial 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.

Clinical Trial Description

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.

To provide future evaluation of MCT in this client group a more definitive trial will be carried out to ascertain the effects of MCT in a larger group when compared to a control group.

If the results are positive this will provide a rationale for a larger research study, which will compare MCT with evidence based treatment such as CBT. ;

Study Design

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

Hypochondriasis

Clinical Trial Details

NCT number	NCT02404116
Study type	Interventional
Source	University of Manchester
Contact
Status	Completed
Phase	N/A
Start date	March 2015
Completion date	January 2017

View Details

See also
Status	Clinical Trial	Phase
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Completed	`NCT01119469` - Comparing Cognitive Therapy and Exposure Therapy in Individuals With Hypochondriasis	Phase 3
Completed	`NCT00339079` - Comparing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Antidepressant Medication, and Combined Treatment in Individuals With Hypochondriasis	Phase 1/Phase 2
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Completed	`NCT00828152` - Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Health Anxiety	Phase 2
Completed	`NCT00959452` - Follow up of Patients Treated With Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Hypochondria From 1997 to 2007	N/A
Completed	`NCT02131883` - Outcome of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Patients With Severe Health Anxiety Treated in Group Only. A RCT.	N/A
Completed	`NCT00208247` - KATHY:Cognitive-behavioural Therapy for Hypochondriasis	Phase 2
Not yet recruiting	`NCT05942391` - Brief-intensive CBT Versus Once-weekly CBT in Anxiety-related Disorders	N/A
Completed	`NCT02735434` - Internet-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Patients With Health Anxiety	N/A
Completed	`NCT04921280` - Effectiveness of ICBT for Severe Health Anxiety in Clinical Psychiatry.
Not yet recruiting	`NCT03024593` - An Examination of the Effects of Health-related Internet Use in Individuals With Pathological Health Anxiety	N/A

Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.

Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.