Cyberchondria levels and relationship with health literacy in patients who visited to the family medicine outpatient clinic

Background: With the widespread use of the internet, individuals increasingly seek health-related information online. While this can enhance health knowledge and decision-making, it may also lead to excessive and anxiety-driven searches, known as cyberchondria. It is still a new and unknown concept that reduces functionality and quality of life, harms the patient-physician relationship, and has become a great burden on the economy. Improving health literacy may play a key role in mitigating its effects. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study included 341 participants who visited a family medicine outpatient clinic between March 28 and June 30, 2022. Data were collected using a sociodemographic form, the cyberchondria severity scale, and the Turkey health literacy scale. Results: Of the participants, 41.3% were male and 58.7% female, with a mean age of 39.3±13.2 years. The mean cyberchondria score was 69.8±15.7, and the mean health literacy (TSOY-32) score was 31.4±8.1, indicating a problematic-limited level. Cyberchondria was negatively correlated with health literacy, number of chronic diseases, and presence of hypertension, and positively correlated with the number of online health information sources used. Higher scores were observed among those using the internet, friends/neighbors, Google, social media, and forums for health information. Conclusions: Our findings highlighted that cyberchondria was negatively associated with health literacy and chronic disease. Targeted strategies to enhance health literacy, along with promoting the responsible use of online health information, may contribute to the prevention and management of cyberchondria.