Health Anxiety and eHealth Literacy as Predictors of Cyberchondria in Women

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether women's cyberchondria levels differ according to some socio-demographic demographic characteristics and the effect of health anxiety and e-health literacy on cyberchondria levels.
 Methods: The descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2022 and March 2023 with women who applied to the gynecology outpatient clinic of a state hospital. The purposive sampling method was used, and 178 women were included in the study. The data were collected using a personal information form, Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS), Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI), and eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). ANOVA, t-test, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical linear regression analysis analyzed the data.
 Results: In this study, the cyberchondria levels of the participants differed according to some socio-demographic characteristics (p< 0.05). The participants' mean score was 28.25 ± 8.45 on the CSS, 18.93 ± 10.78 on the HAI, and 25.65 ± 9.05 on the eHEALS. There was a positive and moderate relationship between the level of cyberchondria and health anxiety (r= 0.416; p=0.001) and e-health literacy (r= 0.378; p=0.001). Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that spending six hours or more on the Internet per day (β = 0.130), health anxiety (β = 0.319) and e-health literacy (β = 0.273) were predictors of cyberchondria (p< 0.05), and these variables explained 35% of the variance in cyberchondria (F=14.279; p=0.001).
 Conclusion: The study provides new findings in health-related Internet use research and contributes to the ongoing debate on the possible predictors of cyberchondria.

The Moderating Role of Health Literacy and Health Promoting Behavior in the Relationship Among Health Anxiety, Emotional Regulation, and Cyberchondria

“… 12 Health anxiety is defined as an excessive fear of acquiring a serious illness. 13 Misdiagnosis can occur when people misinterpret minor or common physical or mental signs for significant illness symptoms. Anxious people worry more about their health and give greater attention to health-related news and recommendations.…”