Hypochondriasis in an Institutional Geriatric Population: Construction of a Scale (HSIG)

Abstract

The staffs at three extended care facilities identified a group of 10 hypochondriacal patients. The research team asked these 10 patients and 59 controls, 27 questions relating to health attitudes and behaviors. Six items were found to be fairly useful in distinguishing hypochondriacal from non-hypochondriacal subjects. These six items were taken as the Hypochondriasis Scale for Institutional Geriatric Patients (HSIG), and each patient scored on the basis of his responses to these six items. This test proved to be one way of distinguishing between hypochondriacal and non-hypochondriacal groups (P less than .005). However, because of the possibility of false positive results, the scale should be used only to confirm staff suspicions of hyponchondriasis and should not be used as part of the clinical intake procedure.

Cost-effectiveness and long-term follow-up of three forms of minimal-contact cognitive behaviour therapy for severe health anxiety: Results from a randomised controlled trial

“…Dimensional assessment of health anxiety is typically, though not always [58][59][60] , based on selfrated questionnaires [61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70] or continuous visual analogue scales 71,72 . One of the first scales to gain recognition as a valid measure of health anxiety was the Whiteley Index (WI).…”

Personality as a Predictor of Depression Among the Elderly

“…(1) high scores on Scale One of the MMPI; (2) high scores on Brink et al's (1978) Hypochondriasis Scale for Institutional Geriatric Patients (HSIG); (3) low scores on the 16 PF scales Factor C (Ego Strength), Factor E (Dominance), Factor F (Impulsivity), Factor H (Boldness) and Q3 (Ability to Bind Anxiety); (4) high scores on the 16 PF scales of Factor O (Guilt Proneness), Factor N (Imagination), and Factor Q4 (Free-Floating Anxiety); (5) lower levels of formal education, especially attainment of only an elementary school education; (6) lower states of reported health; (7) lower current annual income. The usefulness of such a screening approach could be determined by the capacity of the above 16 PF scales, hypochrondriasis scales, and demographic information to separate clinically diagnosed cases of geriatric depression from cases not diagnosed as depression.…”

Geriatric Hypochondriasis: Situational Factors

“…Brink administered several measures for senile confusion secondary to organic brain syndrome (OBS), including the Face-Hand Test (19)(20) and the Stimulus Recognition Test (21). He then administered the Hypochondriasis Scale for Institutional Geriatric Patients (HSIG) which contains six questions differentiating hypochondriacal from nonhypochondriacal subjects, and is scored on a scale of 0 to 6 (22). When Janakes or Martinez examined the subjects, the hypochondriasis scale was administered again, along with a version of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, also known as the Life Change Unit Index, devised by Holmes.…”