The role of Health Anxiety in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Role of Health Anxiety in Mild Cognitive Impairment
IRAS ID
200877
Contact name
Rachel Phillips
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 4 days
Research summary
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a diagnosis given to people who have memory worries (and testing suggest some problems), but who at the time of being tested a experience minimal impact of these difficulties day to day. For some, this can progress into something more serious, such as a dementia, whilst for others they remain stable or even improve. Being one of the most common diagnoses in memory services, the uncertainty of the diagnosis of MCI is controversial and the research has suggested that this uncertainty influences how people adjust to their diagnosis, including what they believe the cause of their memory problems to be and potential future consequences. Increased levels of health anxiety have been shown to be associated with a negative reaction to ambiguous health information and this study suggests that it may play a role in people’s experiences of MCI, with research showing higher levels of anxiety, depression and ‘dementia worry’ in this group.
This study aims to recruit 111 participants who have received a diagnosis of MCI from NHS memory services. It also aims to recruit a control group of older adults who have not experienced memory problems from third party organisations, advertisement in GP surgeries and using via the 'Joint Dementia Register' self-registration research tool. Participants will be asked to attend a single appointment to complete standardised questionnaires measuring health anxiety, illness perceptions, quality of life, anxiety and depression; as well as being asked to complete two short tasks assessing their thinking skills and rating their performance on these immediately afterwards.
The results of the study will have implications for how professionals in memory services communicate results of memory assessments, including consideration of the helpfulness of such an uncertain diagnosis. It also hopes to highlight support needs of individuals who receive a diagnosis of MCI.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/SC/0557
Date of REC Opinion
18 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion