Therapy for hypochondriacs could save billions of dollars

By Marilyn Elias
USA Today

Billions of dollars could be saved if hypochondriacs, who run up 15 percent of U.S. medical costs, were identified and treated in brief therapy groups, a Harvard Medical School researcher said.

There's growing evidence that these frequent complainers whose symptoms have no physical cause need psychological help, and giving it to them saves money in the long run, says psychiatrist Steven Locke. He spoke on a panel at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting in Barcelona, Spain.

Headaches, stomach pain, fatigue, back pain and insomnia are the most common problems these patients have, he says. The cost of their repeated doctor visits is up to 14 times higher than the tab for average patients, he adds.

Locke's study followed 114 such patients enrolled in a six-week group therapy program and compared them with 176 similar patients not in groups.

The two-hour structured groups taught participants how to see a link between their experiences and their physical sensations. They also got training in meditation and how to break self-defeating behavior.

In the year after the six-week group, each participant's medical costs were $1,008 less than patients who hadn't been in the groups, even after deducting the expense of the therapy, Locke says. Group participants made roughly half as many doctor visits as they'd had in the year before their treatment.

But it can be hard to convince the very people who most need therapy that they should get it, says Arthur Barksy of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Since they think they're medically ill, they say, 'Why would I want to be in treatment?'"

Longer-term studies that prove economic benefit are needed, researchers agreed.