The relationship between cyberchondria level and physician perception and e-health literacy in patients applying to Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic

Objective: The term cyberchondria, which is used to describe negative health research on the internet due to health anxiety, has become an important public health problem with the increasing use of the internet. Searches from unofficial sites cause people to be misled about their health and e-health literacy is important at this point. In addition, if the patient cannot find satisfactory answers to their questions by the physician, they may turn to the internet. Based on these considerations, we aimed to examine the effect of e-health literacy and patients' perception of physicians on cyberchondria and the relationship between these variables and sociodemographic variables. Method: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 218 patients who applied to Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University Training and Research Hospital Faculty of Medicine Family Medicine outpatient clinic between 10.05.2023-10.08.2023. The questionnaire form prepared using sociodemographic information, cyberchondria severity scale short form (css-12), Heybet-physician-related health service perception scale and e-health literacy scale was applied face-to-face. Findings: 27.1% of the participants were 25 years of age or younger and 56.9% were undergraduate graduates. Daily time spent on the internet was below 2 hours in 39.4% of the participants. Extremism, a sub-dimension of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale, had the highest mean (10.27) at the age of 25 years and younger. E-health literacy had the highest mean (27.12) at the age of 25 and below. Objective: The term cyberchondria, which is used to describe negative health research on the internet due to health anxiety, has become an important public health problem with the increasing use of the internet. Searches from unofficial sites cause people to be misled about their health and e-health literacy is important at this point. In addition, if the patient cannot find satisfactory answers to their questions by the physician, they may turn to the internet. Based on these considerations, we aimed to examine the effect of e-health literacy and patients' perception of physicians on cyberchondria and the relationship between these variables and sociodemographic variables. Method: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 218 patients who applied to Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University Training and Research Hospital Faculty of Medicine Family Medicine outpatient clinic between 10.05.2023-10.08.2023. The questionnaire form prepared using sociodemographic information, cyberchondria severity scale short form (css-12), Heybet-physician-related health service perception scale and e-health literacy scale was applied face-to-face. Findings: 27.1% of the participants were 25 years of age or younger and 56.9% were undergraduate graduates. Daily time spent on the internet was below 2 hours in 39.4% of the participants. Extremism, a sub-dimension of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale, had the highest mean (10.27) at the age of 25 years and younger. E-health literacy had the highest mean (27.12) at the age of 25 and below. E-Health Literacy had the highest mean (26.79) among women. Cyberchondria Severity level had the highest mean (29.32) in married women. E-health literacy had the highest mean score (26.23) in bachelor's degree graduates, and Heybet-Physician Related Health Care Perception Scale scores had the highest mean score (2.01) in primary and high school graduates. As the time spent on the Internet increased, the cyberchondria severity scale and e-health literacy scale scores increased, while the Heybet-Physician Related Health Care Perception Scale scores decreased. It was found that e-health literacy had a positive effect on the level of cyberchondria severity (p=0.000), while the variable of Perception of Physician-Related Health Care did not have a significant effect on the level of Cyberchondria Severity (p>0.05). Conclusion: In our study, it was concluded that the level of cyberchondria was affected by factors such as age, marital status, duration of internet use, and level of e-health literacy. The positive effect of e-health literacy on the severity level of cyberchondria was explained by the high level of internet use in individuals with high e-health literacy. This situation shows that cyberchondria is a subject that should be carefully examined and especially physicians should be informed about it. Family physicians are often the first point of contact for cyberchondriacs. In this case, it would be useful to cooperate with the patient and reassure him/her by reminding him/her that he/she can access wrong information on the internet. Thus, unnecessary health expenditures can be reduced by preventing unnecessary health institution visits. Today, it is only possible for patients to take responsibility for their own diseases and participate effectively in treatment processes with a strong level of e-health literacy. The high level of e-health literacy in individuals with high levels of education also shows that we should attach importance to policies that will increase the level of education of the public.