Hostname: page-component-76c49bb84f-bg8zk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-07-08T17:58:19.181Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Understanding ‘cyberchondria’: an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the purpose, methods and impact of seeking health information online for those with health anxiety

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2015

Freda McManus ,
Christie Leung ,
Kate Muse  and
J. Mark G. Williams
Freda McManus*
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Oxford, UK Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK
Christie Leung
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Oxford, UK
Kate Muse
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Oxford, UK
J. Mark G. Williams
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Oxford, UK
*
*Author for correspondence: Dr F. McManus, University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK (email: f.v.mcmanus@stir.ac.uk).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

‘Cyberchondria’ describes the phenomenon of searching for health information online exacerbating health anxiety. This study explores health anxious individuals’ experiences of searching for health information online to further understand ‘cyberchondria’. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore participants’ (N = 8) experiences of searching for health information online. Transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Four themes emerged: ‘information is power’, ‘novelty of Internet searching’, ‘need for strategies to navigate the search: Google, authority and cross-checking’, and ‘cyberchondria: short-term gain but long-term pain’. Participants’ accounts suggested they sought health information online as a form of problem solving: to understand their problem and decide on a strategy for solving it, to feel better about having the problem by having ‘done something’ about it, or to share others’ similar experiences. Seeking online health information was prompted by negative expectations of healthcare professionals, yet was not seen as a replacement for medical consultations. Participants noted the accessibility of the Internet and were aware that information is sometimes inaccurate or irrelevant. Thus participants used strategies to filter and validate information. The findings are considered in relation to what they tell us about the purpose, methods and impact of seeking health information online among individuals with health anxiety.

Keywords

Cyberchondriahealth anxietyhealth informationhypochondriasisInternet searchingonline searching

Information

Type
Original Research
Information
the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist , Volume 7 , December 2014 , e21
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Andreassen, HK, Bujnowska-Fedak, MM, Chronaki, CE, Dumitru, RC, Pudule, I, Santana, S, Voss, H, Wynn, R (2007). European citizens’ use of E-health services: a study of seven countries. Biomed Central Public Health 7, 1–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barsky, AJ, Orav, EJ, Bates, DW (2005). Somatization increases medical utilization and costs independent of psychiatric and medical comorbidity. Archives of General Psychiatry 62, 903–910.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berland, GK, Elliott, MN, Morales, LS, Algazy, JI, Kravitz, RL, Broder, MS, Kanouse, DE, Muñoz, JA, Puyol, JA, Lara, M, Watkins, KE, Yang, H, McGlynn, A (2001). Health information on the Internet. Accessibility, quality, and readability in English and Spanish. Journal of the American Medical Association 285, 2612–2621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brocki, JJM, Wearden, AJ (2006). A critical evaluation of the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in health psychology. Psychology and Health 21, 87–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastin, MS, Guinsler, MA (2006). Worried and wired: effects of health anxiety on Information-seeking and health care utilization behaviors. CyberPsychology and Behaviour 9, 494–498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eysenbach, G, Diepgen, T (1998). Towards quality management of medical information on the Internet: evaluation, labelling, and filtering of information. British Medical Journal 317, 1496–1502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eysenbach, G, Köhler, C (2002). How do consumers search for and appraise health information on the World Wide Web? Qualitative study using focus groups, usability tests, and in-depth interviews. British Medical Journal 324, 573–577.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flick, U (1998). An Introduction to Qualitative Research, 3rd edn. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Fox, S (2011). Health Topics (http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/HealthTopics.aspx).Google Scholar
Gureje, O, Ustun, TB, Simon, GE (1997). The syndrome of hypochondriasis: a cross-national study in primary care. Psychological Medicine 27, 1001–1010.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hadjistavropoulos, H, Craig, K, Hadjistavropoulos, T (1998). Cognitive and behavioral responses to illness information: the role of health anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy 36, 149–164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haviland, MG, Pincus, HA, Dial, TH (2003). Datapoints: type of illness and use of the internet for health information. Psychiatric Services 54, 1198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kunst, H, Groot, D, Latthe, P, Latthe, M, Khan, K (2002). Accuracy of information on apparently credible websites: survey of five common health topics. British Medical Journal 324, 581–582.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lemire, M, Paré, G, Sicotte, C, Harvey, C (2008). Determinants of Internet use as a preferred source of information on personal health. International Journal of Medical Informatics 77, 723–734.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morahan-Martin, J (2004). How Internet users find, evaluate, and use online health information: a cross-cultural review. CyberPsychology & Behavior 7, 497–510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muse, K, McManus, F, Leung, C, Meghreblian, B, Williams, JMG (2012). Cyberchondriasis: Fact or fiction? A preliminary examination of the relationship between health anxiety and searching for health information on the Internet. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 26, 189–196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mykletun, A, Heradstveit, O, Eriksen, K, Glozier, N, Øverland, S, Maeland, JG, Wilhelmsen, I (2009). Health anxiety and disability pension award: The HUSK Study. Psychosomatic Medicine 71, 353–360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nelson, P, Murray, J, Kahn, MS (2010). NHS choices primary care consultation final report (http://www.nhs.uk/aboutNHSChoices/professionals/developments/Documents/annual-report/primary-care-consultation-report.pdf). Accessed 26 September 2011.Google Scholar
Office for National Statistics (2010). Internet access 2010 households and individuals. (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/iahi0810.pdf).Google Scholar
Powell, J, Inglis, N, Ronnie, J, Large, S (2011). The characteristic and motivations of online health information seekers: Cross-sectional survey and qualitative interview study. Journal of Medical Internet Research 13. doi:10.2196/jmir.1600CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rajani, R, Mukherjee, D, Chambers, J (2007). Murmurs: how reliable is information on the Internet? International Journal of Cardiology 119, 112–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rice, RE (2006). Influences, usage, and outcomes of Internet health information searching: Multivariate results from the Pew surveys. International Journal of Medical Informatics 75, 8–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salkovskis, P, Rimes, K, Warwick, H, Clark, D (2002). The Health Anxiety Inventory: Development and validation of scales for the measurement of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. Psychological Medicine 32, 843–853.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, JA, Flowers, P, Larkin, M (2009). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Smith, JA, Osborn, M (2003) Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In: Qualitative Psychology (ed. Smith, J. A.), pp. 51–80. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Taylor, H (2010). ‘Cyberchondriacs’ on the rise?: those who go online for healthcare information continues to increase (Research Report No. 95). Retrieved from The Harris Poll website (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/Insights/HarrisVault.aspx?PID=792).Google Scholar
Taylor, S, Asmundson, G (2004). Treating Health Anxiety: A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach. New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Warwick, H, Salkovskis, P (1990). Hypochondriasis. Behaviour Research and Therapy 28, 105–117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, RW, Horvitz, E (2009). Cyberchondria: studies of the escalation of medical concerns in Web search. ACM Transactions on Information Systems 27, 1–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yardley, L (2000). Dilemmas in qualitative health research. Psychology and Health 15, 215–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ybarra, ML, Suman, M (2006). Help seeking behavior and the Internet: a national survey. International Journal of Medical Informatics 75, 29–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.