The effect of health anxiety on cyberchondria levels in diabetes patients

This study aimed to determine the effect of health anxiety on cyberchondria levels in diabetic patients. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted between August 2022 and January 2023 with 250 individuals diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus who presented to the outpatient clinics and were hospitalized at Alanya Training and Research Hospital. Research data were collected using the "Demographic Information Form," "Health Anxiety Inventory," and "Cyberchondria Severity Scale." The mean scores of the Health Anxiety Inventory for diabetic individuals participating in the study were found to be 17.84±11.62, and the mean scores of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale were 79.2±27.42. Significant differences were found between the cyberchondria levels and participants' age, gender, education level, following health-related publications, employment status, time spent on the internet, membership in social network sites, seeking information about the disease on the internet, receiving education about the disease, experiencing complications, exercising, and adherence to diet (p<0.05). It was found that female diabetic individuals, those who follow health-related publications, have membership in social network sites, search for disease-related information on the internet, have Type I diabetes, experience complications, and use insulin experience higher health anxiety (p<0.05). A positively correlated, moderate-level significant correlation was found between health anxiety and cyberchondria levels (p<0.001, rho=0.567). The total score of Health Anxiety Inventory explains 30% of the change in the total score of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale. It is recommended that healthcare professionals, especially diabetes education nurses, provide education to all diabetic individuals, both those experiencing health anxiety and those who are not, on how to utilize technology, how to access reliable information on the internet, the inability to diagnose, treat, and care for medical conditions based solely on information obtained from the internet and social media, and the necessity for seeking support from experts in the field of health for all health-related matters