SynthesisPloS one2019
Prevalence of hypochondriac symptoms among health science students in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- A review of the 257 meta-analyses of the differences between females and males in prevalence and risk, protective factors, and treatment outcomes for mental disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Can we trust computers to assess the cognition of stroke patients? A systematic review.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Health Anxiety and Health-Related Behaviors Among Chinese Medical Students.Journal of prevention (2022) · 2026Article
- Prevalence of Illness Anxiety Disorder and Its Relation to Anxiety Among Medical Students in Karachi: A Cross-Sectional Study.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Relationship between hypochondriasis and clinical self-efficacy in nursing students: A cross-sectional multi-institutional study.Journal of education and health promotion · 2026Article
- When simulation becomes physical: vicarious symptoms in standardized patients during osces.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Medical student syndrome among medical and nonmedical students at Sultan Qaboos University: A comparative study of health anxiety.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Depression and Anxiety among Undergraduate Health Science Students: A Scoping Review of the Literature.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Medical Students' Syndrome among Medical Students in the University of Sharjah, UAE.Avicenna journal of medicine · 2023Article
- Illness Anxiety Disorder and Distress among Female Medical and Nursing Students.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2023Article
- Evaluation of the prevalence of illness anxiety disorder following the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran and its related factors: a cross-sectional study.Health science reports · 2023Article
- Increased Frequency of Health Anxiety in Health Science Students: a Cross Sectional Study in a Greek University.Medical archives (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) · 2021Article
- Health Anxiety, Fear of COVID-19, Nosophobia, and Health-protective Behaviors Among Healthcare Professionals.Innovations in clinical neuroscienceArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHypochondriac symptoms are commonly reported in health science students. With their incomplete medical knowledge, they may compare their own bodily symptoms with disease symptoms during the process of learning, which can lead to mental distress and the need for repeated medical reassurance.
objectiveTo estimate the prevalence of hypochondriac symptoms in Chinese health science students.
methodsA systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Biology Medicine disc, and Wanfang Data on July 1, 2018. Additionally, the references of the retrieved papers were searched. Cross-sectional studies published in either English or Chinese that reported the prevalence of hypochondriac symptoms in health science students were included. The selection process was executed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis, and study quality was assessed with the checklist recommended by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for cross-sectional studies. A random-effects model according to the DerSimonian-Laird method was used to calculate the pooled prevalence.
resultsSeven cross-sectional studies involving 6,217 Chinese health science students were included. The pooled prevalence of hypochondriac symptoms among health science students was 28.0% (95% CI = 19.0%-38.0%). The symptoms were a little more common in females (30.0%, 95% CI = 19.0%-42.0%) than in males (29.0%, 95% CI = 16.0%-42.0%), but the difference was not significant. No significant differences were found between participants grouped by study year. Only three studies explored the coping styles of students with hypochondriasis, and these revealed a high tendency toward help-seeking behaviors.
conclusionOur systematic review and meta-analysis showed a high prevalence of hypochondriac symptoms among health science students, indicating that it is a noteworthy phenomenon. We suggest that counseling and other support services are necessary for health science students.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.