Health Anxiety Inventory
Also known as: HAI
The Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) is a 14-item self-report questionnaire designed to measure health anxiety and health-related worry, including concerns about having serious illness, fear of dying, and preoccupation with bodily symptoms. Developed by Salkovskis, Rimes, Warwick, and Clark in 2002, the HAI has become a standard instrument for assessing health anxiety in clinical and research settings, particularly valuable for distinguishing health anxiety from general anxiety or depression.
Key highlights
- Health-anxiety-specific measurement — focuses specifically on health-related worries, distinct from general anxiety or depression.
- Good psychometric properties — internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.88), good test-retest reliability, strong convergent validity with other health anxiety measures.
- Useful in medical settings — helps clinicians and researchers distinguish health anxiety from genuine medical concerns.
- Public domain and free — not copyrighted; freely available for clinical and research use.
Intuition
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How it works
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When to use it
The HAI is recommended for assessing health anxiety in medical settings, mental health clinics, and research contexts. It is suitable for adolescents (aged 13 and older) and adults with medical or health-related concerns. The HAI is useful in cognitive-behavioral therapy for health anxiety disorder and for monitoring treatment response. It is less appropriate as a general anxiety screen; the GAD-7 is preferable for broader anxiety assessment.
Strengths & limitations
- Health-anxiety-specific measurement — focuses specifically on health-related worries, distinct from general anxiety or depression.
- Good psychometric properties — internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.88), good test-retest reliability, strong convergent validity with other health anxiety measures.
- Useful in medical settings — helps clinicians and researchers distinguish health anxiety from genuine medical concerns.
- Public domain and free — not copyrighted; freely available for clinical and research use.
- Specificity to health domain — does not measure anxiety in other domains; requires supplementary measures for comprehensive anxiety assessment.
- Self-report bias — subject to social desirability bias; health anxious patients may either exaggerate health worries or underreport due to embarrassment.
- Not diagnostic — measures health anxiety severity but does not diagnose health anxiety disorder; clinical interview is required.
Common pitfalls
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Applications
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Frequently asked
What HAI score indicates clinically significant health anxiety?
A score of 18 or higher typically indicates clinically significant health anxiety warranting further evaluation or intervention. Scores of 26 or higher suggest severe health anxiety.
Can I use HAI to diagnose health anxiety disorder?
No. The HAI measures health anxiety severity but does not diagnose the disorder. Diagnosis of health anxiety disorder requires clinical interview assessing DSM-5 criteria (preoccupation with having serious illness, high health anxiety, health-related behaviors or avoidance, persistence 6+ months). Use HAI as part of comprehensive assessment.
How is the HAI different from general anxiety measures like GAD-7?
The HAI focuses specifically on health-related worries and concerns about illness. The GAD-7 measures general anxiety about everyday situations. Use HAI when health anxiety is the focus; use GAD-7 for general anxiety screening.
Is the HAI suitable for patients with genuine medical illness?
Yes, but interpretation requires context. Elevated HAI scores in medically ill patients may reflect appropriate health concern rather than anxiety disorder. Clinical judgment is needed to distinguish health anxiety from legitimate health concern.
Sources
- 1.Salkovskis, P. M., Rimes, K. A., Warwick, H. M., & Clark, D. M. (2002). The Health Anxiety Inventory: Development and validation of scales for the measurement of health anxiety and illness worry. Psychological Medicine, 32(5), 843-853.
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ScholarGate. (2026, June 3). Health Anxiety Inventory. ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/clinical-psychology/health-anxiety-inventory