Health Anxiety in Caregivers: Prevalence, Risk & Key Differences

Key things to know What the evidence shows
How common is it? NE
Is it more common among caregivers? Caring for someone with serious illness increases exposure to symptoms/disease uncertainty but caregiver-specific HA rate unknown
Are caregivers at higher risk? #N/A
How much higher is the risk? NE
How often can it be missed? #N/A
Does it show up differently among caregivers? Yes
How might it look different? Seeing another person's deterioration may heighten one's own symptom monitoring, disease fears or testing
What commonly occurs alongside it? #N/A
What can it be confused with? Appropriate concern due family illness; PTSD
Common screening tool SHAI — Short Health Anxiety Inventory
Separate screening tool for caregivers None
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