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Porritt JM, Sufi F et al. J Clin Periodontol 2014; 41: 60–69

And in turn, those with high levels of health anxiety were more likely to use passive coping strategies such as helplessness and relying on others for support. Passive coping strategies were associated with both a worse OHRQoL and a worse perceived general health status. In this study, using purposive sample (the investigators select the sample), 101 subjects with self-diagnosed dentine hypersensitivity completed questionnaires at baseline and at one month follow-up. The questionnaires were used to explore health anxiety, illness beliefs, coping strategies, OHRQoL and HRQoL. The investigators hung some of their findings on the self-regulation model (SRM) which is made up from 'both cognitive representations and emotional aspects to the illness'. The SRM 'was able to explain just under half of the variance in passive coping and just over half of the variance in individual's OHRQoL'. In most subjects, dentine hypersensitivity did not have an impact on general health.