Health Anxiety and eHealth Literacy as Predictors of Cyberchondria in Women

Authors : Fatma USLU ŞAHAN, Seda PURTUL

Pages : 454-461

Doi:10.31067/acusaglik.1285876

View : 69 | Download : 63

Publication Date : 2023-07-10

Article Type : Research Paper

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 insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(CSS);, Health Anxiety Inventory insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(HAI);, and eHealth Literacy Scale insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(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 insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(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 insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(r= 0.416; p=0.001); and e-health literacy insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(r= 0.378; p=0.001);. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that spending six hours or more on the Internet per day insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(β = 0.130);, health anxiety insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(β = 0.319); and e-health literacy insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(β = 0.273); were predictors of cyberchondria insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(p< 0.05);, and these variables explained 35% of the variance in cyberchondria insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(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.
Keywords : Cyberchondria, eHealth literacy, health anxiety, health literacy, women