Afrin Rifat, Prybutok Gayle
Department of Rehabilitation and Health Services, College of Health and Public Service, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA.
Health Promot Int. 2022 Aug 1;37(4). doi: 10.1093/heapro/daac108.
This study establishes a theoretical framework for assessing antecedents of cyberchondria, which is a process of amplified anxiety about one's health because of excessive online health information seeking. We examined the framework through partial least squares structural equation modeling after collecting data through a cross-sectional online survey. This research contributes to the literature by (i) evaluating the roles of health anxiety (HA) and affective responses (AR) on cyberchondria; (ii) equipping health strategists with understanding about ways to tailor their educational and communication strategies to specific segments by importance-performance map analysis and necessary condition analysis. Finally, by (iii) providing strategic tactics to curb cyberchondria so that it becomes possible to attain a better patient outcome. Findings suggest that the existing association between intolerance of uncertainty and cyberchondria is serially mediated by HA and AR. For healthcare educators and practitioners, the findings of this research deliver a blueprint for effectively controlling cyberchondria.
本研究建立了一个用于评估网络疑病症成因的理论框架，网络疑病症是指由于过度在线搜索健康信息而导致对自身健康的焦虑加剧的过程。我们通过横断面在线调查收集数据后，采用偏最小二乘结构方程模型对该框架进行了检验。本研究在以下方面为文献做出了贡献：（i）评估健康焦虑（HA）和情感反应（AR）在网络疑病症中的作用；（ii）通过重要性-绩效映射分析和必要条件分析，使健康策略制定者了解如何针对特定群体调整其教育和沟通策略。最后，（iii）提供抑制网络疑病症的战略策略，从而有可能实现更好的患者治疗效果。研究结果表明，不确定性不耐受与网络疑病症之间的现有关联是由HA和AR依次介导的。对于医疗保健教育工作者和从业者而言，本研究结果为有效控制网络疑病症提供了一个蓝图。
