Cyberchondria: A Review


ERDOĞAN A., HOCAOĞLU Ç.

Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar/Current Approaches to Psychiatr, cilt.12, sa.4, 2020 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 12 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1108/intr-03-2020-0148
  • Dergi Adı: Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar/Current Approaches to Psychiatr
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Psycinfo, Directory of Open Access Journals, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Cyberchondria, Online health information seeking, Health anxiety, Measures, Antecedents, Consequences, SEVERITY SCALE CSS, PROBLEMATIC INTERNET USE, POTENTIAL RISK-FACTORS, HEALTH ANXIETY, INFORMATION-SEEKING, MEDICAL INFORMATION, VALIDATION, SEARCHES, INTOLERANCE, UNCERTAINTY
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Purpose Cyberchondria describes excessive or repeated online health-related information seeking associated with an increased level of health anxiety. Given the nascent nature of the concept of cyberchondria, this systematic review attempts to summarize the current landscape of cyberchondria research. Design/methodology/approach Based on a comprehensive search and systematic filtering process, 40 articles were included in the final sample. Findings Characteristics of these articles, measures of cyberchondria and factors related to cyberchondria were reported. This review found that the measures of cyberchondria are still in the developmental stages and thus require further validation in future studies. In addition, while studies have examined various factors associated with cyberchondria, the detailed processes involved in the development of cyberchondria require further conceptualization. Originality/value The contributions of this review are threefold: first, it presented a comprehensive overview of studies on cyberchondria by addressing their key characteristics such as country of study, sample size and research method. Second, this review analyzed major assessment tools of cyberchondria to offer useful guidance on future investigations on cyberchondria. Third, it identified important antecedents and consequences of cyberchondria in previous research, which contributes to theoretical understanding of how cyberchondria develops.