Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41811832›Full record

ArticlePloS one2026

Illness anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder: Similarities and differences in health-anxious individuals.

Katarina Kikas, Emily Upton, Brittany Corkish, Aliza Werner-Seidler, Jill M Newby

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In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Katarina KikasBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1416-4631
Emily UptonBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Brittany CorkishBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Aliza Werner-SeidlerBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Jill M NewbyBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6473-9811

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Little is known about the features and characteristics of illness anxiety disorder (IAD) and somatic symptom disorder (SSD), and whether the minimal somatic symptom requirement in IAD is valid and useful. This study compares IAD and SSD, and IAD (involving no or mild somatic symptoms) to a modified IAD diagnosis (modified to include moderate-to-severe somatic symptoms) in health anxious individuals. We recruited health anxious individuals drawn from the community and assessed IAD and SSD. We compared the disorders on demographic and clinical characteristics, health care utilization, and assessed the prevalence of IAD subtypes. The validity of the IAD somatic symptom criterion was examined by comparing current IAD with modified IAD. Among 118 participants, 28 met criteria for IAD, 47 for SSD, and 38 for modified IAD. Most with IAD fluctuated between seeking and avoiding medical care (71.4%), while 25% were care-seeking and 3.6% were care-avoidant. Demographic information, illness course, mental health comorbidities, and symptom severity did not differ significantly between IAD and SSD. However, individuals with SSD reported significantly more somatic symptoms, chronic health conditions, reduced quality of life, and more health care visits compared to individuals with IAD. Similar findings were observed between IAD-current and IAD-modified. The minimal differences between IAD and SSD, and between IAD-current and IAD-modified call into question the utility of distinguishing health anxiety presentations based on somatic symptom presence and severity. Further research should compare these disorders on illness course and treatment outcomes.

Indexed as

Anxiety DisordersMedically Unexplained SymptomsSomatoform DisordersAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedQuality of Life

Identifiers

PMID41811832
PMCPMC12978481

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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.