L'hypocondrie chez la personne âgée

Hypochondriasis is an excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness. In the DSM-IV it is included in the somatoform disorders. It affects about only 3% of the elderly population but has a heavy health care cost. Two distinct types of hypochondriasis are proposed: primary hypochondriasis is a consistent state of concern with health or illness, which is not associated with any other psychiatric condition and secondary hypochondriasis is a state of bodily concern in which symptoms of another psychiatric disorder are present in more than a mild degree. Depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety and somatization disorder are common in the elderly and are the most common accompanying conditions in people with hypochondriasis. Unexplained medical symptoms in generalized anxiety and their relationship to somatoform disorders in old persons are presented.