An open study of paroxetine in hypochondriasis

1. Despite the high prevalence of hypochondriasis, this disorder is found to be the focus of research only minimally. 2. This open study evaluates the efficacy and tolerance of paroxetine in 11 patients with DSM-III-R hypochondriasis. 3. Using paired samples t-test, a significant reduction on measures of hypochondriasis was found after 12 weeks of treatment compared to baseline. Two patients dropped out prematurely. At post-test, eight out of nine patients who completed the study had improved to a clinically relevant degree. Of these, five attained scores in the reach of the normal population. 4. In one patient who completed the study and one patient who dropped out, tolerance of paroxetine was poor, whereas in remaining patients tolerance was moderate to good. 5. The results of this study suggest that patients with hypochondriasis may be responsive to paroxetine. A controlled study is recommended.