Insights into the antecedents of cyberchondria: a perspective from the USA

Abstract

Summary This study establishes a theoretical framework for assessing antecedents of cyberchondria, which is a process of amplified anxiety about one’s health because of excessive online health information seeking. We examined the framework through partial least squares structural equation modeling after collecting data through a cross-sectional online survey. This research contributes to the literature by (i) evaluating the roles of health anxiety (HA) and affective responses (AR) on cyberchondria; (ii) equipping health strategists with understanding about ways to tailor their educational and communication strategies to specific segments by importance–performance map analysis and necessary condition analysis. Finally, by (iii) providing strategic tactics to curb cyberchondria so that it becomes possible to attain a better patient outcome. Findings suggest that the existing association between intolerance of uncertainty and cyberchondria is serially mediated by HA and AR. For healthcare educators and practitioners, the findings of this research deliver a blueprint for effectively controlling cyberchondria.

Exploring how health-related advertising interference contributes to the development of cyberchondria: A stressor–strain–outcome approach

“… 7 , 21 , 24 More specifically, a meta-analysis study reported that there is a strong positive relationship between health anxiety and cyberchondria as well as a moderate positive relationship between health anxiety and OHIS. 30 Afrin and Prybutok 32 found that affective responses and health anxiety serially mediate the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and cyberchondria among the US internet users.…”

Brave New Healthcare: A Narrative Review of Digital Healthcare in American Medicine

“…So pervasive is the problem that a cyberchondria severity scale has been proposed to help quantify the phenomenon [75]. A framework for understanding cyberchondria has been proposed, which describes a vicious circle in which compulsive seeking of online health information amplifies health anxiety, which then drives the individual to seek more online information [76].…”