Prevalence of cyberchondria in medical sciences students in relationship with gender and fields of study: A cross-sectional study in an Iranian sample

Background: Searching for information through the Internet has become an important part of people's daily lives and people often use search engines to get information about medicine and health. When a person is constantly searching the internet to make sure they have a disease, it is called cyberchondria. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of cyberchondria among medical students in Kermanshah.Methods: The type of the present study is cross-sectional-descriptive. The participants of this article including ۴۲۰ people (۱۹۱ males and ۲۲۹ females) of Kermanshah medical students were selected by purposive sampling. Participants in the years ۲۰۱۹-۲۰۲۰ were studied. The mean age of participants was between ۱۸ and ۳۳ with a mean and standard deviation of ۲۳.۷۴ ± ۴.۶۲. The instrument used is the Cyberchondria Short Form (CSS-۱۲). SPSS-۲۵ statistical software was used for data analysis. Chi-square test, one-way analysis of variance, and Scheffe post hoc test was used to evaluate the research resualts.Results: The results showed that cybercondria have %۳۰.۱۲ among medical students.There is also a significant difference between people in terms of gender and field of study. there was a significant difference between dental students and paramedical and midwifery students (P <۰.۰۵) Conclusion: Cybercondria has a relatively high prevalence among medical students and most of the subjects seek medical information in the field of health as a behavioral style.There is a significant difference between students in terms of gender and field of study.

Keywords:

Cybercondria , Epidemiology , Illness Anxiety , Online Search for Medical Information