eHealth Literacy and Cyberchondria Severity Among Undergraduate Students: Mixed Methods Study

作     者：Hsu, Wan-Chen 

作者机构：Natl Kaohsiung Univ Sci & Technol Ctr Teaching & Learning Dev 1 Univ Rd Kaohsiung Taiwan 

出 版 物：《JMIR FORMATIVE RESEARCH》 (JMIR Form. Res.)

年 卷 期：2025年第9卷

页      面：e63449页

基　　金：National Science and Technology Council 

主　　题：eHealth literacy undergraduate student cyberchondria compucondria web-based health information health information seeking college students 

摘      要：Background: With the development of the internet, health care websites have become increasingly important by enabling easy access to health information, thereby influencing the attitudes and behaviors of individuals toward health issues. However, few studies have addressed public access to health information and self-diagnosis. Objective: This study investigated the background factors and status of cyberchondria severity among college students by conducting a nationwide sample survey using the Cyberchondria Severity Scale. Further, we explored the perspective of eHealth literacy of those with scores higher than 1 SD from the mean by analyzing their recent experiences using web-based health information. Methods: A nationally representative sample of college students was surveyed, and 802 valid responses were obtained (male: 435/802, 54.2%;female: 367/802, 45.8%;mean age 20.3, SD 1.4 years). The Cyberchondria Severity Scale was used, which consisted of 4 dimensions (increased anxiety, obsessive-compulsive hypochondria, perceived controllability, and web-based physician-patient interaction). Additionally, we recruited 9 volunteers who scored more than 1 SD above the mean for in-depth interviews on their web-based health information-seeking behaviors. Results: Significant differences were found across the 4 dimensions of cyberchondria severity (F-3,F-2403=256.26;P.001), with perceived controllability scoring the highest (mean 2.75, SD 0.87) and obsessive-compulsive hypochondria scoring the lowest (mean 2.19, SD 0.77). Positive correlations were observed between perceived controllability, web-based physician-patient interactions, increased anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive hypochondria (r=0.46-0.75, P.001). Regression analysis indicated that health concern significantly predicted perceived controllability (beta coefficient=0.12;P.05) and web-based physician-patient interaction (beta coefficient=0.16;P.001). Interview data revealed that students often experienced heig