What impact does pregnancy have on anxiety about health?

Background: A previous study suggests that health anxiety, or preoccupation and fears about ill health, is elevated during pregnancy. However, replication of this result is needed given several methodological weaknesses of the previous research. The current study refined earlier work by assessing health anxiety using two distinct measures and comparing scores to a control group and to established norms for healthy controls. The relationship of health anxiety to background variables such as parity and pregnancy complications was also explored.

Methods: A total of 252 women in the third trimester of pregnancy and 45 similarly aged non-pregnant women completed the Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS) and the newly developed Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI).

Results: Compared to the non-pregnant sample and established scores for healthy controls, health anxiety was not elevated during pregnancy. Health anxiety was higher in women who experienced complications during pregnancy but was unrelated to other background variables. The IAS identified more individuals as health anxious than the SHAI.

Conclusions: Contrary to previous research, health anxiety was not elevated during pregnancy. The IAS appeared to be susceptible to identifying women as health anxious due to greater health care utilization by pregnant women rather than higher health anxiety. Clinical recommendations and future directions for the assessment of health anxiety are outlined.