Cognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety in medical patients (CHAMP): a randomised controlled trial with outcomes to 5 years

P Tyrer; Paul Salkovskis; H Tyrer; Duolao Wang; Michael J. Crawford; Simon Dupont; Sylvia Cooper; John Green; David Murphy; Georgina Smith; Sharandeep Bhogal; Shaeda Nourmand; Valentina Lazarevic; Gemma Loebenberg; Rachel Evered; Stephanie Kings; Antoinette McNulty; Yvonne Lisseman-Stones; Sharon McAllister; Kofi Kramo; Jessica Nagar; Steven Reid; Rahil Sanatinia; Katherine Whittamore; Gemma Walker; Aaron Philip; Hilary Warwick; Sarah Byford; Barbara Barrett

doi:10.3310/hta21500

Cognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety in medical patients (CHAMP): a randomised controlled trial with outcomes to 5 years

P Tyrer, Paul Salkovskis, H Tyrer, Duolao Wang, Michael J. Crawford, Simon Dupont, Sylvia Cooper, John Green, David Murphy, Georgina Smith, Sharandeep Bhogal, Shaeda Nourmand, Valentina Lazarevic, Gemma Loebenberg, Rachel Evered, Stephanie Kings, Antoinette McNulty, Yvonne Lisseman-Stones, Sharon McAllister, Kofi KramoJessica Nagar, Steven Reid, Rahil Sanatinia, Katherine Whittamore, Gemma Walker, Aaron Philip, Hilary Warwick, Sarah Byford, Barbara Barrett

School of Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

BackgroundHealth anxiety is an under-recognised but frequent cause of distress that is potentially treatable, but there are few studies in secondary care.ObjectiveTo determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a modified form of cognitive–behaviour therapy (CBT) for health anxiety (CBT-HA) compared with standard care in medical outpatients.DesignRandomised controlled trial.SettingFive general hospitals in London, Middlesex and Nottinghamshire.ParticipantsA total of 444 patients aged 16–75 years seen in cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology and respiratory medicine clinics who scored ≥ 20 points on the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) and satisfied diagnostic requirements for hypochondriasis. Those with current psychiatric disorders were excluded, but those with concurrent medical illnesses were not.InterventionsCognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety – between 4 and 10 1-hour sessions of CBT-HA from a health professional or psychologist trained in the treatment. Standard care was normal practice in primary and secondary care.Main outcome measuresPrimary – researchers masked to allocation assessed patients at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 24 months and 5 years. The primary outcome was change in the HAI score between baseline and 12 months. Main secondary outcomes – costs of care in the two groups after 24 and 60 months, change in health anxiety (HAI), generalised anxiety and depression [Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)] scores, social functioning using the Social Functioning Questionnaire and quality of life using the EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), at 6, 12, 24 and 60 months, and deaths over 5 years.ResultsOf the 28,991 patients screened over 21 months, 5769 had HAI scores of ≥ 20 points. Improvement in HAI scores at 3 months was significantly greater in the CBT-HA group (mean number of sessions = 6) than in the standard care, and this was maintained over the 5-year period (overallp < 0.0001), with no loss of efficacy between 2 and 5 years. Differences in the generalised anxiety (p = 0.0018) and depression scores (p = 0.0065) on the HADS were similar in both groups over the 5-year period. Gastroenterology and cardiology patients showed the greatest CBT gains. The outcomes for nurses were superior to those of other therapists. Deaths (n = 24) were similar in both groups; those in standard care died earlier than those in CBT-HA. Patients with mild personality disturbance and higher dependence levels had the best outcome with CBT-HA. Total costs were similar in both groups over the 5-year period (£12,590.58 for CBT-HA; £13,334.94 for standard care). CBT-HA was not cost-effective in terms of quality-adjusted life-years, as measured using the EQ-5D, but was cost-effective in terms of HAI outcomes, and offset the cost of treatment.LimitationsMany eligible patients were not randomised and the population treated may not be representative.ConclusionsCBT-HA is a highly effective treatment for pathological health anxiety with lasting benefit over 5 years. It also improves generalised anxiety and depressive symptoms more than standard care. The presence of personality abnormality is not a bar to successful outcome. CBT-HA may also be cost-effective, but the high costs of concurrent medical illnesses obscure potential savings. This treatment deserves further research in medical settings.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN14565822.FundingThis project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full inHealth Technology Assessment; Vol. 21, No. 50. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-58
Number of pages	0
Journal	Health Technology Assessment
Volume	21
Issue number	50
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3310/hta21500
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - Sept 2017

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Tyrer, P., Salkovskis, P., Tyrer, H., Wang, D., Crawford, M. J., Dupont, S., Cooper, S., Green, J., Murphy, D., Smith, G., Bhogal, S., Nourmand, S., Lazarevic, V., Loebenberg, G., Evered, R., Kings, S., McNulty, A., Lisseman-Stones, Y., McAllister, S., ... Barrett, B. (2017). Cognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety in medical patients (CHAMP): a randomised controlled trial with outcomes to 5 years. Health Technology Assessment, 21(50), 1-58. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta21500

@article{24c624759f804561bb172fe29a64485d,

title = "Cognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety in medical patients (CHAMP): a randomised controlled trial with outcomes to 5 years",

abstract = "BackgroundHealth anxiety is an under-recognised but frequent cause of distress that is potentially treatable, but there are few studies in secondary care.ObjectiveTo determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a modified form of cognitive–behaviour therapy (CBT) for health anxiety (CBT-HA) compared with standard care in medical outpatients.DesignRandomised controlled trial.SettingFive general hospitals in London, Middlesex and Nottinghamshire.ParticipantsA total of 444 patients aged 16–75 years seen in cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology and respiratory medicine clinics who scored ≥ 20 points on the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) and satisfied diagnostic requirements for hypochondriasis. Those with current psychiatric disorders were excluded, but those with concurrent medical illnesses were not.InterventionsCognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety – between 4 and 10 1-hour sessions of CBT-HA from a health professional or psychologist trained in the treatment. Standard care was normal practice in primary and secondary care.Main outcome measuresPrimary – researchers masked to allocation assessed patients at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 24 months and 5 years. The primary outcome was change in the HAI score between baseline and 12 months. Main secondary outcomes – costs of care in the two groups after 24 and 60 months, change in health anxiety (HAI), generalised anxiety and depression [Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)] scores, social functioning using the Social Functioning Questionnaire and quality of life using the EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), at 6, 12, 24 and 60 months, and deaths over 5 years.ResultsOf the 28,991 patients screened over 21 months, 5769 had HAI scores of ≥ 20 points. Improvement in HAI scores at 3 months was significantly greater in the CBT-HA group (mean number of sessions = 6) than in the standard care, and this was maintained over the 5-year period (overallp < 0.0001), with no loss of efficacy between 2 and 5 years. Differences in the generalised anxiety (p = 0.0018) and depression scores (p = 0.0065) on the HADS were similar in both groups over the 5-year period. Gastroenterology and cardiology patients showed the greatest CBT gains. The outcomes for nurses were superior to those of other therapists. Deaths (n = 24) were similar in both groups; those in standard care died earlier than those in CBT-HA. Patients with mild personality disturbance and higher dependence levels had the best outcome with CBT-HA. Total costs were similar in both groups over the 5-year period (£12,590.58 for CBT-HA; £13,334.94 for standard care). CBT-HA was not cost-effective in terms of quality-adjusted life-years, as measured using the EQ-5D, but was cost-effective in terms of HAI outcomes, and offset the cost of treatment.LimitationsMany eligible patients were not randomised and the population treated may not be representative.ConclusionsCBT-HA is a highly effective treatment for pathological health anxiety with lasting benefit over 5 years. It also improves generalised anxiety and depressive symptoms more than standard care. The presence of personality abnormality is not a bar to successful outcome. CBT-HA may also be cost-effective, but the high costs of concurrent medical illnesses obscure potential savings. This treatment deserves further research in medical settings.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN14565822.FundingThis project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full inHealth Technology Assessment; Vol. 21, No. 50. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.",

author = "P Tyrer and Paul Salkovskis and H Tyrer and Duolao Wang and Crawford, {Michael J.} and Simon Dupont and Sylvia Cooper and John Green and David Murphy and Georgina Smith and Sharandeep Bhogal and Shaeda Nourmand and Valentina Lazarevic and Gemma Loebenberg and Rachel Evered and Stephanie Kings and Antoinette McNulty and Yvonne Lisseman-Stones and Sharon McAllister and Kofi Kramo and Jessica Nagar and Steven Reid and Rahil Sanatinia and Katherine Whittamore and Gemma Walker and Aaron Philip and Hilary Warwick and Sarah Byford and Barbara Barrett",

year = "2017",

month = sep,

doi = "10.3310/hta21500",

language = "English",

volume = "21",

pages = "1--58",

journal = "Health Technology Assessment",

issn = "1366-5278",

publisher = "National Co-ordinating Centre for HTA",

number = "50",

}

Tyrer, P, Salkovskis, P, Tyrer, H, Wang, D, Crawford, MJ, Dupont, S, Cooper, S, Green, J, Murphy, D, Smith, G, Bhogal, S, Nourmand, S, Lazarevic, V, Loebenberg, G, Evered, R, Kings, S, McNulty, A, Lisseman-Stones, Y, McAllister, S, Kramo, K, Nagar, J, Reid, S, Sanatinia, R, Whittamore, K, Walker, G, Philip, A, Warwick, H, Byford, S & Barrett, B 2017, 'Cognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety in medical patients (CHAMP): a randomised controlled trial with outcomes to 5 years', Health Technology Assessment, vol. 21, no. 50, pp. 1-58. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta21500

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety in medical patients (CHAMP): a randomised controlled trial with outcomes to 5 years

AU - Tyrer, P

AU - Salkovskis, Paul

AU - Tyrer, H

AU - Wang, Duolao

AU - Crawford, Michael J.

AU - Dupont, Simon

AU - Cooper, Sylvia

AU - Green, John

AU - Murphy, David

AU - Smith, Georgina

AU - Bhogal, Sharandeep

AU - Nourmand, Shaeda

AU - Lazarevic, Valentina

AU - Loebenberg, Gemma

AU - Evered, Rachel

AU - Kings, Stephanie

AU - McNulty, Antoinette

AU - Lisseman-Stones, Yvonne

AU - McAllister, Sharon

AU - Kramo, Kofi

AU - Nagar, Jessica

AU - Reid, Steven

AU - Sanatinia, Rahil

AU - Whittamore, Katherine

AU - Walker, Gemma

AU - Philip, Aaron

AU - Warwick, Hilary

AU - Byford, Sarah

AU - Barrett, Barbara

PY - 2017/9

Y1 - 2017/9

N2 - BackgroundHealth anxiety is an under-recognised but frequent cause of distress that is potentially treatable, but there are few studies in secondary care.ObjectiveTo determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a modified form of cognitive–behaviour therapy (CBT) for health anxiety (CBT-HA) compared with standard care in medical outpatients.DesignRandomised controlled trial.SettingFive general hospitals in London, Middlesex and Nottinghamshire.ParticipantsA total of 444 patients aged 16–75 years seen in cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology and respiratory medicine clinics who scored ≥ 20 points on the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) and satisfied diagnostic requirements for hypochondriasis. Those with current psychiatric disorders were excluded, but those with concurrent medical illnesses were not.InterventionsCognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety – between 4 and 10 1-hour sessions of CBT-HA from a health professional or psychologist trained in the treatment. Standard care was normal practice in primary and secondary care.Main outcome measuresPrimary – researchers masked to allocation assessed patients at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 24 months and 5 years. The primary outcome was change in the HAI score between baseline and 12 months. Main secondary outcomes – costs of care in the two groups after 24 and 60 months, change in health anxiety (HAI), generalised anxiety and depression [Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)] scores, social functioning using the Social Functioning Questionnaire and quality of life using the EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), at 6, 12, 24 and 60 months, and deaths over 5 years.ResultsOf the 28,991 patients screened over 21 months, 5769 had HAI scores of ≥ 20 points. Improvement in HAI scores at 3 months was significantly greater in the CBT-HA group (mean number of sessions = 6) than in the standard care, and this was maintained over the 5-year period (overallp < 0.0001), with no loss of efficacy between 2 and 5 years. Differences in the generalised anxiety (p = 0.0018) and depression scores (p = 0.0065) on the HADS were similar in both groups over the 5-year period. Gastroenterology and cardiology patients showed the greatest CBT gains. The outcomes for nurses were superior to those of other therapists. Deaths (n = 24) were similar in both groups; those in standard care died earlier than those in CBT-HA. Patients with mild personality disturbance and higher dependence levels had the best outcome with CBT-HA. Total costs were similar in both groups over the 5-year period (£12,590.58 for CBT-HA; £13,334.94 for standard care). CBT-HA was not cost-effective in terms of quality-adjusted life-years, as measured using the EQ-5D, but was cost-effective in terms of HAI outcomes, and offset the cost of treatment.LimitationsMany eligible patients were not randomised and the population treated may not be representative.ConclusionsCBT-HA is a highly effective treatment for pathological health anxiety with lasting benefit over 5 years. It also improves generalised anxiety and depressive symptoms more than standard care. The presence of personality abnormality is not a bar to successful outcome. CBT-HA may also be cost-effective, but the high costs of concurrent medical illnesses obscure potential savings. This treatment deserves further research in medical settings.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN14565822.FundingThis project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full inHealth Technology Assessment; Vol. 21, No. 50. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

AB - BackgroundHealth anxiety is an under-recognised but frequent cause of distress that is potentially treatable, but there are few studies in secondary care.ObjectiveTo determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a modified form of cognitive–behaviour therapy (CBT) for health anxiety (CBT-HA) compared with standard care in medical outpatients.DesignRandomised controlled trial.SettingFive general hospitals in London, Middlesex and Nottinghamshire.ParticipantsA total of 444 patients aged 16–75 years seen in cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology and respiratory medicine clinics who scored ≥ 20 points on the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) and satisfied diagnostic requirements for hypochondriasis. Those with current psychiatric disorders were excluded, but those with concurrent medical illnesses were not.InterventionsCognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety – between 4 and 10 1-hour sessions of CBT-HA from a health professional or psychologist trained in the treatment. Standard care was normal practice in primary and secondary care.Main outcome measuresPrimary – researchers masked to allocation assessed patients at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 24 months and 5 years. The primary outcome was change in the HAI score between baseline and 12 months. Main secondary outcomes – costs of care in the two groups after 24 and 60 months, change in health anxiety (HAI), generalised anxiety and depression [Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)] scores, social functioning using the Social Functioning Questionnaire and quality of life using the EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), at 6, 12, 24 and 60 months, and deaths over 5 years.ResultsOf the 28,991 patients screened over 21 months, 5769 had HAI scores of ≥ 20 points. Improvement in HAI scores at 3 months was significantly greater in the CBT-HA group (mean number of sessions = 6) than in the standard care, and this was maintained over the 5-year period (overallp < 0.0001), with no loss of efficacy between 2 and 5 years. Differences in the generalised anxiety (p = 0.0018) and depression scores (p = 0.0065) on the HADS were similar in both groups over the 5-year period. Gastroenterology and cardiology patients showed the greatest CBT gains. The outcomes for nurses were superior to those of other therapists. Deaths (n = 24) were similar in both groups; those in standard care died earlier than those in CBT-HA. Patients with mild personality disturbance and higher dependence levels had the best outcome with CBT-HA. Total costs were similar in both groups over the 5-year period (£12,590.58 for CBT-HA; £13,334.94 for standard care). CBT-HA was not cost-effective in terms of quality-adjusted life-years, as measured using the EQ-5D, but was cost-effective in terms of HAI outcomes, and offset the cost of treatment.LimitationsMany eligible patients were not randomised and the population treated may not be representative.ConclusionsCBT-HA is a highly effective treatment for pathological health anxiety with lasting benefit over 5 years. It also improves generalised anxiety and depressive symptoms more than standard care. The presence of personality abnormality is not a bar to successful outcome. CBT-HA may also be cost-effective, but the high costs of concurrent medical illnesses obscure potential savings. This treatment deserves further research in medical settings.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN14565822.FundingThis project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full inHealth Technology Assessment; Vol. 21, No. 50. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

U2 - 10.3310/hta21500

DO - 10.3310/hta21500

M3 - Article

SN - 1366-5278

VL - 21

SP - 1

EP - 58

JO - Health Technology Assessment

JF - Health Technology Assessment

IS - 50

ER -

Cognitive–behaviour therapy for health anxiety in medical patients (CHAMP): a randomised controlled trial with outcomes to 5 years

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