Can medical assistants ease health anxiety? new study says yes
NCT ID NCT03789084
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested a short, four-session therapy program for people who worry excessively about their health. Medical assistants delivered the therapy in primary care clinics. 68 adults took part, and the study measured changes in health anxiety over 12 weeks. The goal was to see if this approach is practical and helpful.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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68 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Mar 2019
- Finished
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Oct 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 85 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Age of 18 years to 85 * Have a primary care provider at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center-General Internal Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Heater Road Clinic, or Dartmouth-Hitchcock Manchester * Primary care visit frequency of two standard deviations above the mean for patients in the individual's age by gender cohort * Elevated self-reported health anxiety (≥2 on Whiteley Index-7) * Diagnosis of illness anxiety disorder or somatic symptom disorder determined by Health Anxiety Interview Exclusion Criteria: * Non-English speaking * Chronic medical illness necessitating an increased visit frequency confirmed through consultation with the patient's primary care provider * Active suicidal ideation * Unmanaged psychosis or unmanaged bipolar disorder
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, New Hampshire, 03756, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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