The Relationship Between E-Health Literacy, Health Anxiety, Cyberchondria, and Death Anxiety in University Students That Study in Health Related Department
JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY HEALTHCARE, cilt.18, ss.1581-1595, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 18
- Basım Tarihi: 2025
- Doi Numarası: 10.2147/jmdh.s513017
- Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY HEALTHCARE
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, EMBASE, Directory of Open Access Journals
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1581-1595
- Anahtar Kelimeler: cyberchondria, death anxiety, E-health literacy, health anxiety, university students
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Introduction: While the Internet can be a valuable resource for learning about health issues, for those without adequate e-health literacy skills, it can have adverse effects on unwanted anxiety and cyberchondria risk. Improving e-health literacy is essential to manage health and death anxiety and help reduce the risk of cyberchondria. The aim of this study is to determine the e-health literacy, health anxiety, cyberchondria and death anxiety levels of university students, evaluate them in terms of independent variables and examine the relationship between the scales. Methods: The study was completed with 568 students receiving education in the health department of a university. Data were obtained using the e-Health Literacy Scale, Health Anxiety Inventory, Cyberchondria Severity Scale, and Death Anxiety Scale. The chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Tamhane's T2 post hoc tests, and Spearman correlation were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean score of e-health literacy was 28.63 +/- 4.65; health anxiety was 19.11 +/- 8.37, cyberchondria was 86.30 +/- 18.28 and death anxiety was 7.34 +/- 2.14. Cyberchondria is low in women and those who do not conduct online research on health. E-health literacy was higher in those earning above the minimum wage. Health and death anxiety was low in men and in those who did not conduct online health-related research. Health anxiety was positively correlated with cyberchondria and death anxiety and negatively correlated with e-health literacy. There was a positive relationship between cyberchondria and E-health literacy and death anxiety. This study highlights the complex relationship between eHealth literacy, health anxiety, cyberchondria and death anxiety. It shows that low e-health literacy can increase health anxiety, which in turn can worsen cyberchondria and death anxiety. By emphasising the importance of e-health literacy in health education, the findings may help students manage their anxiety, make informed health decisions, and increase their professional competence.