Üzüm Özlem, Ince Gülberat, Eliaçık Kayı, Kanık Ali, Elmalı Ferhan, Helvacı Mehmet
Department of Pediatric Diseases, University of Health Sciences, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, TUR.
Department of Pediatric Diseases, İzmir Katip Çelebi University School of Medicine, İzmir, TUR.
Cureus. 2023 Jan 25;15(1):e34218. doi: 10.7759/cureus.34218. eCollection 2023 Jan.
Internet use, which provides the opportunity to access information from anywhere, and anytime, is increasing among adolescents and young adults. In studies examining the effect of technology use in adults, it has been observed that there is a relationship between cyberchondria and vaccine hesitancy. This study aimed to uncover the potential relationship between cyberchondria and vaccine hesitancy in adolescents and to obtain data for combating anti-vaccination in this age group.
A total of 2.353 high school students were enrolled within the scope of this research. The forms were delivered to the students online and 531 volunteers participated in the survey. The Cyberchondria Severity Scale and Vaccine Hesitancy Scale were used to evaluate the details of the relationship between cyberchondria and vaccine hesitancy levels in adolescents.
The compulsion subscales of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale in males and vaccine repugnance subscales of the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale in females were statistically significantly higher. Cyberchondria and vaccine hesitancy have a strong relationship with each other except benefits and protective value of vaccines subscale of vaccine hesitancy.
Health policymakers should be aware of this relationship and there is a need to develop novel online intervention programs for combating anti-vaccination, particularly among cyberchondriac adolescents who have relatively high vaccination hesitancy, particularly during the pandemic.
互联网的使用使人们能够随时随地获取信息，在青少年和青年中越来越普遍。在研究成年人使用科技的影响时，发现了网络疑病症与疫苗犹豫之间存在关联。本研究旨在揭示青少年网络疑病症与疫苗犹豫之间的潜在关系，并获取应对该年龄组反疫苗接种行为的数据。
本研究共纳入2353名高中生。问卷通过网络发送给学生，531名志愿者参与了调查。使用网络疑病症严重程度量表和疫苗犹豫量表来评估青少年网络疑病症与疫苗犹豫水平之间关系的细节。
男性网络疑病症严重程度量表的强迫分量表以及女性疫苗犹豫量表的疫苗厌恶分量表在统计学上显著更高。除了疫苗犹豫量表的疫苗益处和保护价值分量表外，网络疑病症与疫苗犹豫之间存在很强的关联。
卫生政策制定者应意识到这种关系，有必要开发新的在线干预项目来对抗反疫苗接种行为，特别是在疫苗犹豫程度相对较高的网络疑病症青少年中，尤其是在疫情期间。
