Is There a Relationship Between Online Health Information Seeking and Health Anxiety? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

IF 3 3区医学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Health Communication Pub Date : 2024-11-01 Epub Date: 2023-11-02 DOI:10.1080/10410236.2023.2275921

Zhenyu Wang, Yi Hu, Bohan Huang, Guixian Zheng, Bei Li, Zhihan Liu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The internet has revolutionized how we live, providing unprecedented convenience and up-to-date information. Consequently, an increasing number of individuals are turning to the internet for health-related information, despite research suggesting a correlation between this behavior and health anxiety. Therefore, drawing on cognitive - behavioral theory, we explore the link between online health information seeking and health anxiety via a systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis, we ran searches in multiple databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Elsevier/Science Direct, Cochrane Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Chinese Database, and Wanfang Data. Our searches identified 16 studies eligible for review, involving 4,920 participants across seven countries. The random-effects meta-analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between online health information seeking and health anxiety (r = 0.28, 95% confidence interval [0.16, 0.41], p < .0001), despite considerable heterogeneity. Furthermore, meta-regression analysis demonstrated that the identity characteristics of the sample, female percentage, sample size, and country all contributed to the heterogeneity across studies. Overall, this meta-analysis provides support for the association between online health information seeking and health anxiety, and helps to elucidate the cognitive - behavioral theory underpinning this phenomenon.

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网络健康信息寻求与健康焦虑之间存在关系吗？系统综述和荟萃分析。

互联网已经彻底改变了我们的生活方式，提供了前所未有的便利和最新的信息。因此，越来越多的人转向互联网获取与健康相关的信息，尽管研究表明这种行为与健康焦虑之间存在相关性。因此，我们借鉴认知行为理论，通过对横断面研究的系统回顾和荟萃分析，探讨了在线健康信息寻求与健康焦虑之间的联系。根据系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目，我们在多个数据库中进行了搜索，包括PubMed、Web of Science、Embase、Elsevier/Science Direct、Cochrane数据库、中国国家知识基础设施、VIP中文数据库和万方数据。我们的搜索确定了16项符合审查条件的研究，涉及7个国家的4920名参与者。随机效应荟萃分析显示，在线健康信息寻求与健康焦虑呈正相关（r = 0.28，95%置信区间[0.16，0.41]，p

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来源期刊

Health Communication Multiple-

CiteScore

8.20

自引率

10.30%

发文量

184

期刊介绍： As an outlet for scholarly intercourse between medical and social sciences, this noteworthy journal seeks to improve practical communication between caregivers and patients and between institutions and the public. Outstanding editorial board members and contributors from both medical and social science arenas collaborate to meet the challenges inherent in this goal. Although most inclusions are data-based, the journal also publishes pedagogical, methodological, theoretical, and applied articles using both quantitative or qualitative methods.