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Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI)3

Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) Test

Designed for a focused look at health-related worry, the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) Test contains 37 questions and takes about 7 minutes. Your result highlights patterns such as illness preoccupation, reassurance seeking, and avoidance, offering a structured starting point for self-reflection about how health concerns affect daily life.

Questions: 377 minutes

Short Health Anxiety Inventory: test ticket with numbers

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

Reassurance SeekingRS

Measures how often a person seeks reassurance or confirmation that they do not have an illness or health risk.

example score46/72

46/72Highexample score

0 – 8Low

9 – 22Moderate

23 – 72High

A score of 46 falls in the High range, suggesting frequent reassurance-seeking to reduce health-related concerns.

Avoidant BehaviorAB

Measures the extent to which a person avoids situations or activities due to perceived health threats.

example score54/80

54/80High avoidanceexample score

0 – 8Low avoidance

9 – 27Moderate avoidance

28 – 80High avoidance

A score of 54 falls in the High avoidance range, suggesting a pronounced tendency to use avoidance strategies in response to perceived health risks.

Negative Consequences BlockNCB

Assesses how strongly a person worries about potential negative consequences or complications of illness.

example score4/12

4/12Moderate concernexample score

0 – 2Low concern

3 – 6Moderate concern

7 – 12High concern

A score of 4 falls in the Moderate concern range, suggesting a noticeable but not pervasive focus on possible negative health outcomes.

Core BlockCB

Assesses the overall intensity of health-related anxiety, including worries about illness and a tendency to amplify bodily symptoms.

example score35/42

35/42Highexample score

0 – 4Low

5 – 13Moderate

14 – 42High

A score of 35 falls in the High range, suggesting pronounced and frequent health-related worry and heightened attention to symptoms.

Total ScoreTS

Measures overall intensity of health-related worry and associated preoccupation with bodily symptoms.

example score48/54

48/54Highexample score

0 – 6Low

7 – 19Typical

20 – 54High

A score of 48 falls in the High range, indicating very pronounced health-related worry and frequent preoccupation with health concerns.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

People with frequent symptoms

41%OF USERS

They often notice bodily sensations and want to understand whether worry is driving repeated checking, reassurance-seeking, or avoidance.

Patients with chronic illness

34%OF USERS

They live with a real medical condition and want to see how much health-related fear is adding extra stress beyond the illness itself.

Parents of anxious teens

25%OF USERS

They suspect their 9–17-year-old worries excessively about health and want a clearer picture of the intensity and patterns of that anxiety.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

Search for AffirmationsSfA

You?

Average21.1

Typical rangeTypical9.8 – 32.4

Possible0 – 72

Avoidant BehaviorAB

You?

Average47.2

Typical rangeTypical35.9 – 58.4

Possible0 – 80

Block of Negative ConsequencesBoNC

You?

Average3.2

Typical rangeTypical1.5 – 5

Possible0 – 12

Main blockMb

You?

Average21.1

Typical rangeTypical15 – 27.2

Possible0 – 42

Total scoreTs

You?

Average39.6

Typical rangeTypical32.7 – 46.6

Possible0 – 54

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please read each group of statements carefully and select the one that best describes how you have been feeling during the past week. If you believe that more than one statement applies, select the one that appears lower in the group.

- I do not worry about my health.
- I occasionally worry about my health.
- I worry about my health quite often.
- I constantly worry about my health.
- I never imagine myself as being ill.
- I sometimes imagine myself as being ill.
- I often imagine myself as being ill.
- I constantly imagine myself as being ill.
- I rarely want to know what they mean.
- I often want to know what they mean.
- I always want to know what they mean.
- I feel I must know what they are.

These are 3 of the 37 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) Test - Description and methodology of the test

hypochondria

uneasiness

People who become preoccupied with bodily sensations, illness possibilities, or medical information may use the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) Test to organize these experiences. It is suited to anyone seeking a clearer picture of health-related worry, checking, reassurance seeking, and avoidance. A health anxiety questionnaire can show which patterns are most prominent in the current result.

What This Assessment Explores

Items ask about bodily sensations, illness thoughts, reassurance, feared consequences, avoidance, checking, illness-related information, and healthcare contact. Illness anxiety symptoms therefore appear as a pattern of concern and coping, not a statement about physical disease.

The result is organized into five dimensions:

Reassurance Seeking (0-72) shows reliance on confirmation about illness or health threat: Low 0-8; Moderate 9-22; High 23-72.
Avoidant Behavior (0-80) shows avoidance of perceived health threats: Low avoidance 0-8; Moderate avoidance 9-27; High avoidance 28-80.
Negative Consequences Block (0-12) reflects worry about illness consequences: Low concern 0-2; Moderate concern 3-6; High concern 7-12.
Core Block (0-42) reflects general health anxiety and symptom exaggeration: Low 0-4; Moderate 5-13; High 14-42.
Total Score (0-54) summarizes overall health-related anxiety: Low 0-6; Typical 7-19; High 20-54.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Responses are self-reported and use ordered choices rather than yes-or-no judgments. Items ask the respondent to rate worry, attention, reassurance, feared impact, avoidance, or frequency, with graded verbal or numeric anchors. This format captures intensity and repetition in everyday health-related experiences.

Scoring converts selected responses into the displayed blocks and overall result. The ranges and bands above are descriptive interpretation labels, not cutoffs inferred from the wording. The patterns are most useful when read together, especially if worry, checking, reassurance, and avoidance diverge.

Conceptually, this health anxiety assessment is consistent with the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI; Salkovskis et al., 2002). The original instrument established a framework for health anxiety and hypochondriasis; Abramowitz, Deacon, and Valentiner (2007) examined the short form’s psychometric properties and construct validity, and Alberts, Hadjistavropoulos, Jones, and Sharpe (2013) reviewed later evidence. This research supports the construct, but does not establish identical wording, norms, reliability, or validity for this online presentation.

Self-report remains sensitive to current context, self-awareness, and response bias, so the result can change over time and is not a diagnosis.

Author: P. M. McCracken, S. Salkovskis

Literature:

Salkovskis, P. M., Rimes, K. A., Warwick, H. M. C., & Clark, D. M. The Health Anxiety Inventory: Development and Validation of Scales for the Measurement of Health Anxiety and Hypochondriasis. Psychological Medicine. 2002;32(5):843-853. 10.1017/S0033291702005822
Abramowitz, J. S., Deacon, B. J., & Valentiner, D. P. The Short Health Anxiety Inventory: Psychometric Properties and Construct Validity in a Non-clinical Sample. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2007;31(6):871-883. 10.1007/s10608-006-9058-1
Alberts, N. M., Hadjistavropoulos, H. D., Jones, S. L., & Sharpe, D. The Short Health Anxiety Inventory: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 2013;27(1):68-78. 10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.10.009

Updated: 2025-10-02