Research Article
Year 2023,
Volume: 14 Issue: 3, 454 - 461, 10.07.2023
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.
Supporting Institution
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Project Number
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Thanks
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References
- Özkan O, Sungur C, Özer Ö. Investigation of cyberchondria level and digital literacy on women in Turkey. J Hum Behav Soc Environ 2022;32(6):768–780. DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2021.1962776
- Starcevic V, Baggio S, Berle D, Khazaal Y, Viswasam K. Cyberchondria and its relationships with related constructs: A network analysis. Psychiatr Q 2019;90:491–505. DOI: 10.1007/s11126-019-09640-5
- McMullan RD, Berle D, Arnáez S, Starcevic V. The relationships between health anxiety, online health information seeking, and cyberchondria: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord 2019;245:270–278. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.11.037
- Starcevic V, Berle D. Cyberchondria: towards a better understanding of excessive health-related Internet use. Expert Rev Neurother 2013;13(2):205–213. DOI: 10.1586/ern.12.162
- Baumann E, Czerwinski F, Reifegerste D. Gender-specific determinants and patterns of online health information seeking: results from a representative German health survey. J Med Internet Res 2017;19(4):e92. DOI: 10.2196/jmir.6668
- Şahin E, Çatıker A, Özdil K, Bulucu Büyüksoy GD. Predictors of eHealth literacy in pregnant women: A structural equation model analysis. Int J Gynecol Obstet 2023;160(3):783–789. DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.14416
- Martino ML, Gargiulo A, Lemmo D, Margherita G. Cancer blog narratives: The experience of under-fifty women with breast cancer during different times after diagnosis. Qual Rep 2019;24(1):158–173. DOI: 10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3646
- Gioia F, Boursier V. What does predict cyberchondria? Evidence from a sample of women. J Psychol 2020;7(69):1047–2313. DOI: 10.12974/2313-1047.2020.07.6
- Shieh C, Khan I, Umoren R. Engagement design in studies on pregnancy and infant health using social media: Systematic review. Prev Med Reports 2020;19:101113. DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101113
- Turhan Cakir A. Cyberchondria levels in women with human papilloma virus. J Obstet Gynaecol Res 2022;48(10):2610–2614. DOI: 10.1111/jog.15354
- Dhore M, Bhate A, Warikoo A, Modak A, Aher A. Online Forum for Unintended Pregnancy-Related Queries. J Womens Heal Dev 2022;5(2):132–138. DOI: 10.26502/fjwhd.2644-28840083
- Lee J, Tak SH. Factors associated with eHealth literacy focusing on digital literacy components: A cross-sectional study of middle-aged adults in South Korea. Digit Heal 2022;8:20552076221102764. DOI: 10.1177/20552076221102765
- Salkovskis PM, Rimes KA, Warwick HMC, Clark D. The Health Anxiety Inventory: development and validation of scales for the measurement of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. Psychol Med 2002;32(5):843–853. DOI: 10.1017/s0033291702005822
- Nadeem F, Malik NI, Atta M, Ullah I, Martinotti G, Pettorruso M, Vellante F, Di Giannantonio M, De Berardis D. Relationship between health-anxiety and cyberchondria: Role of metacognitive beliefs. J Clin Med 2022;11(9):2590-2608. DOI: 10.3390/jcm11092590
- Norman CD, Skinner HA. eHealth literacy: essential skills for consumer health in a networked world. J Med Internet Res 2006;8(2):e506. DOI: 10.2196/jmir.8.2.e9
- Doherty-Torstrick ER, Walton KE, Fallon BA. Cyberchondria: parsing health anxiety from online behavior. Psychosomatics 2016;57(4):390–400. DOI: 10.1016/j.psym.2016.02.002
- McElroy E, Shevlin M. The development and initial validation of the cyberchondria severity scale (CSS). J Anxiety Disord 2014;28(2):259–265. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.12.007
- Fergus TA, Russell LH. Does cyberchondria overlap with health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms? An examination of latent structure and scale interrelations. J Anxiety Disord 2016;38:88–94. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.01.009
- Asgher S, Saleem N. Online Health Information and female users; Needs, Usages and Effects. J Media Commun 2021;2(1): 158-171. http://jmc.ilmauniversity.edu.pk/arc/Vol2/2.2/4.pdf
- Özer Ö, Özmen S, Özkan O. Investigation of the effect of cyberchondria behavior on e-health literacy in healthcare workers. Hosp Top 2021;1–9. DOI: 10.1080/00185868.2021.1969873
- McElroy E, Kearney M, Touhey J, Evans J, Cooke Y, Shevlin M. The CSS-12: Development and validation of a short-form version of the cyberchondria severity scale. Cyberpsychology, Behav Soc Netw 2019;22(5):330–335. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2018.0624
- Söyler, S., Biçer, İ., & Çavmak, D (2021): Siberkondri Ciddiyeti Ölçeği Kısa Formu (CSS-12) Geçerlilik ve Güvenirlilik Çalışması. 302. In: S. Uyar & R. Kıraç (Ed.), Davranışsal Boyutları ile Sağlık. Nobel Akademik Yayıncılık. Ankara. https://toad.halileksi.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/siberkondri-ciddiyeti-olcegi-kisa-formu-css-12-toad.pdf
- Aydemir Ö, Kirpinar I, Sati T, Uykur B, Cengisiz C. Sağlık Anksiyetesi Ölçeği’nin Türkçe için Güvenilirlik ve Geçerlilik Çalışması. Arch Neuropsychiatry Ars 2013;50(4): 325-331. DOI: 10.4274/npa.y6383
- Tamer GZ. Norman ve Skinner'in E-sağlık okuryazarlığı ölçeğinin kültürel uyarlaması için geçerlilik ve güvenilirlik çalışması. İstanbul Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Dergisi. 2017; 52: 131- 145. DOI:10.17064/iuifd.333165
- Bajcar B, Babiak J. Self-esteem and cyberchondria: The mediation effects of health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms in a community sample. Curr Psychol 2021;40:2820–2831. DOI: 10.1007/s12144-019-00216-x
- Ambrosini F, Truzoli R, Vismara M, Vitella D, Biolcati R. The effect of cyberchondria on anxiety, depression and quality of life during COVID-19: the mediational role of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and Internet addiction. Heliyon 2022;8(5):e09437. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09437
- Fergus TA. The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): an examination of structure and relations with health anxiety in a community sample. J Anxiety Disord 2014;28(6):504–510. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.05.006
- Cui GH, Li SJ, Yin YT, Chen LJ, Li JQ, Liang FY, Liu XY, Chen L. The relationship among social capital, eHealth literacy and health behaviours in Chinese elderly people: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 2021;21(1):1–9. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-10037-4
- Reder, M., Soellner, R., Kolip, P. Do women with high eHealth literacy profit more from a decision aid on mammography screening? Testing the moderation effect of the eHEALS in a randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Public Health, 2019; 7: 46. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00046
- Bardus M, Keriabian A, Elbejjani M, Al-Hajj S. Assessing eHealth literacy among internet users in Lebanon: A cross-sectional study. Digit Heal 2022;8:20552076221119336. DOI: : 10.1177/20552076221119336
- Deniz S. A study on the e-health literacy and cyberchondria levels of individuals. Insa Insa J Sci Cult Art Thought. 2020;7(24):84–96. DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.674726
Year 2023,
Volume: 14 Issue: 3, 454 - 461, 10.07.2023
Abstract
Amaç: Bu araştırmada kadınların siberkondri düzeylerinin bazı sosyo-demografik özelliklere göre farklılık gösterip göstermediğini ve sağlık anksiyetesi ve e-sağlık okuryazarlığının siberkondria düzeyine etkisini belirlemek amaçlanmıştır.
Yöntem: Tanımlayıcı ve kesitsel nitelikteki yapılan araştırma bir devlet hastanesinin kadın hastalıkları polikliniğine başvuran kadınlar ile Aralık 2022-Mart 2023 tarihleri arasında gerçekleştirildi. Amaçlı örnekleme yöntemi ile araştırmaya 178 kadın dahil edildi. Araştırmanın verileri kişisel bilgi formu, Siberkondri Ciddiyeti Ölçeği (SCÖ), Sağlık Anksiyetesi Ölçeği (SAÖ) ve E-sağlık Okuryazarlığı Ölçeği (E-SOÖ) ile toplantı. Verilerin analizinde ANOVA, t-testi, Pearson korelasyon ve hiyerarşik doğrusal regresyon analizi kullanıldı.
Bulgular: Araştırmada katılımcıların siberkondriya düzeyleri bazı sosyo-demografik özelliklerine göre farklılaştığı belirlendi (p< 0.05). Katılımcıların SCÖ puan ortalaması 28,25 ± 8,45, SAÖ puan ortalaması 18,93 ± 10,78 ve E-SOÖ puan ortalaması 25,65 ± 9,05’di. Kadınların siberkondriya düzeyi ile sağlık anksiyetesi (r= 0,416; p=0.001) ve e- sağlık okuryazarlık (r= 0,378; p=0.001) düzeyi arasında pozitif ve orta düzeyde bir ilişki saptandı. Hiyerarşik regresyon analizi ile günde altı saat ve üzeri internette zaman harcama (β = 0.130), sağlık anksiyetesi (β = 0.319) ve e-sağlık okuryazarlığının (β = 0.273) siberkondrianın yordayıcıları olduğu belirlendi (p< 0.05) ve bu değişkenler siberkondriadaki varyansın %35'ini açıkladı (F=14.279; p=0.001).
Sonuç: Araştırmada sağlıkla ilgili internet kullanımı araştırmalarında yeni bulgular ortaya koymuş ve siberkondriyanın olası belirleyicileri konusunda devam eden tartışmalara katkıda bulunmuştur.
Project Number
-
References
- Özkan O, Sungur C, Özer Ö. Investigation of cyberchondria level and digital literacy on women in Turkey. J Hum Behav Soc Environ 2022;32(6):768–780. DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2021.1962776
- Starcevic V, Baggio S, Berle D, Khazaal Y, Viswasam K. Cyberchondria and its relationships with related constructs: A network analysis. Psychiatr Q 2019;90:491–505. DOI: 10.1007/s11126-019-09640-5
- McMullan RD, Berle D, Arnáez S, Starcevic V. The relationships between health anxiety, online health information seeking, and cyberchondria: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord 2019;245:270–278. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.11.037
- Starcevic V, Berle D. Cyberchondria: towards a better understanding of excessive health-related Internet use. Expert Rev Neurother 2013;13(2):205–213. DOI: 10.1586/ern.12.162
- Baumann E, Czerwinski F, Reifegerste D. Gender-specific determinants and patterns of online health information seeking: results from a representative German health survey. J Med Internet Res 2017;19(4):e92. DOI: 10.2196/jmir.6668
- Şahin E, Çatıker A, Özdil K, Bulucu Büyüksoy GD. Predictors of eHealth literacy in pregnant women: A structural equation model analysis. Int J Gynecol Obstet 2023;160(3):783–789. DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.14416
- Martino ML, Gargiulo A, Lemmo D, Margherita G. Cancer blog narratives: The experience of under-fifty women with breast cancer during different times after diagnosis. Qual Rep 2019;24(1):158–173. DOI: 10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3646
- Gioia F, Boursier V. What does predict cyberchondria? Evidence from a sample of women. J Psychol 2020;7(69):1047–2313. DOI: 10.12974/2313-1047.2020.07.6
- Shieh C, Khan I, Umoren R. Engagement design in studies on pregnancy and infant health using social media: Systematic review. Prev Med Reports 2020;19:101113. DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101113
- Turhan Cakir A. Cyberchondria levels in women with human papilloma virus. J Obstet Gynaecol Res 2022;48(10):2610–2614. DOI: 10.1111/jog.15354
- Dhore M, Bhate A, Warikoo A, Modak A, Aher A. Online Forum for Unintended Pregnancy-Related Queries. J Womens Heal Dev 2022;5(2):132–138. DOI: 10.26502/fjwhd.2644-28840083
- Lee J, Tak SH. Factors associated with eHealth literacy focusing on digital literacy components: A cross-sectional study of middle-aged adults in South Korea. Digit Heal 2022;8:20552076221102764. DOI: 10.1177/20552076221102765
- Salkovskis PM, Rimes KA, Warwick HMC, Clark D. The Health Anxiety Inventory: development and validation of scales for the measurement of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. Psychol Med 2002;32(5):843–853. DOI: 10.1017/s0033291702005822
- Nadeem F, Malik NI, Atta M, Ullah I, Martinotti G, Pettorruso M, Vellante F, Di Giannantonio M, De Berardis D. Relationship between health-anxiety and cyberchondria: Role of metacognitive beliefs. J Clin Med 2022;11(9):2590-2608. DOI: 10.3390/jcm11092590
- Norman CD, Skinner HA. eHealth literacy: essential skills for consumer health in a networked world. J Med Internet Res 2006;8(2):e506. DOI: 10.2196/jmir.8.2.e9
- Doherty-Torstrick ER, Walton KE, Fallon BA. Cyberchondria: parsing health anxiety from online behavior. Psychosomatics 2016;57(4):390–400. DOI: 10.1016/j.psym.2016.02.002
- McElroy E, Shevlin M. The development and initial validation of the cyberchondria severity scale (CSS). J Anxiety Disord 2014;28(2):259–265. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.12.007
- Fergus TA, Russell LH. Does cyberchondria overlap with health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms? An examination of latent structure and scale interrelations. J Anxiety Disord 2016;38:88–94. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.01.009
- Asgher S, Saleem N. Online Health Information and female users; Needs, Usages and Effects. J Media Commun 2021;2(1): 158-171. http://jmc.ilmauniversity.edu.pk/arc/Vol2/2.2/4.pdf
- Özer Ö, Özmen S, Özkan O. Investigation of the effect of cyberchondria behavior on e-health literacy in healthcare workers. Hosp Top 2021;1–9. DOI: 10.1080/00185868.2021.1969873
- McElroy E, Kearney M, Touhey J, Evans J, Cooke Y, Shevlin M. The CSS-12: Development and validation of a short-form version of the cyberchondria severity scale. Cyberpsychology, Behav Soc Netw 2019;22(5):330–335. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2018.0624
- Söyler, S., Biçer, İ., & Çavmak, D (2021): Siberkondri Ciddiyeti Ölçeği Kısa Formu (CSS-12) Geçerlilik ve Güvenirlilik Çalışması. 302. In: S. Uyar & R. Kıraç (Ed.), Davranışsal Boyutları ile Sağlık. Nobel Akademik Yayıncılık. Ankara. https://toad.halileksi.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/siberkondri-ciddiyeti-olcegi-kisa-formu-css-12-toad.pdf
- Aydemir Ö, Kirpinar I, Sati T, Uykur B, Cengisiz C. Sağlık Anksiyetesi Ölçeği’nin Türkçe için Güvenilirlik ve Geçerlilik Çalışması. Arch Neuropsychiatry Ars 2013;50(4): 325-331. DOI: 10.4274/npa.y6383
- Tamer GZ. Norman ve Skinner'in E-sağlık okuryazarlığı ölçeğinin kültürel uyarlaması için geçerlilik ve güvenilirlik çalışması. İstanbul Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Dergisi. 2017; 52: 131- 145. DOI:10.17064/iuifd.333165
- Bajcar B, Babiak J. Self-esteem and cyberchondria: The mediation effects of health anxiety and obsessive–compulsive symptoms in a community sample. Curr Psychol 2021;40:2820–2831. DOI: 10.1007/s12144-019-00216-x
- Ambrosini F, Truzoli R, Vismara M, Vitella D, Biolcati R. The effect of cyberchondria on anxiety, depression and quality of life during COVID-19: the mediational role of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and Internet addiction. Heliyon 2022;8(5):e09437. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09437
- Fergus TA. The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS): an examination of structure and relations with health anxiety in a community sample. J Anxiety Disord 2014;28(6):504–510. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.05.006
- Cui GH, Li SJ, Yin YT, Chen LJ, Li JQ, Liang FY, Liu XY, Chen L. The relationship among social capital, eHealth literacy and health behaviours in Chinese elderly people: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 2021;21(1):1–9. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-10037-4
- Reder, M., Soellner, R., Kolip, P. Do women with high eHealth literacy profit more from a decision aid on mammography screening? Testing the moderation effect of the eHEALS in a randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Public Health, 2019; 7: 46. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00046
- Bardus M, Keriabian A, Elbejjani M, Al-Hajj S. Assessing eHealth literacy among internet users in Lebanon: A cross-sectional study. Digit Heal 2022;8:20552076221119336. DOI: : 10.1177/20552076221119336
- Deniz S. A study on the e-health literacy and cyberchondria levels of individuals. Insa Insa J Sci Cult Art Thought. 2020;7(24):84–96. DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.674726
There are 31 citations in total.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Health Care Administration |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Project Number | - |
| Early Pub Date | June 22, 2023 |
| Publication Date | July 10, 2023 |
| Submission Date | April 20, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023Volume: 14 Issue: 3 |
