A plea for the diagnosis of hypochondriacal personality disorder.

Hypochondriacal personality disorder is identified as a separate condition by cluster analysis of data from a structured interview for assessing personality disorders, the Personality Assessment Schedule. Close examination of the patients identified as having hypochondriacal personality disorder suggests that they have common characteristics, including excessive preoccupation with the maintenance of health, distorted perception of minor symptoms so that they are elevated to the status of major disease, and frequent medical consultations and disciplines fringing on medicine. In a study of 1000 psychiatric patients 2.5% were found to have the disorder, most frequently among the affective psychoses.