aetiology
Last reviewed 01/2018
This condition is usually secondary to another illness or personality disorder. The difficulty is explaining why some patients will, for example, develop hypochondriasis secondary to a condition such as depression and others will not. There is little factual information that can point to any predictive factors.
Hypochondriasis is more common among men, lower social class and in the elderly. In depressive illness hypochondriacal symptoms appear to be more common in non- European cultures.