EVALUATION OF CYBERCHONDRIA LEVELS AND RELATED FACTORS IN UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES

Objective Cyberchondia is a new concept defined as the search for information about the health from the internet in an excessive and repetitive manner by the inconvenience of anxiety or anxiety about health in the individuals. The aim of this study was to reveal Cyberchondia levels of Sakarya University staff beside working in health related units and to define factors which may be related about Cyberchondia. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study, Electronically designed questionnaires was sent to staff’s offical e-mail adresses.. There were 34 questions about participants’ sociademographic characteristics, attitudes and behaviours related participants’ internet habits and 15-item short form of the (SCO-15). As a result of the analysis of variance, multiple linear regression (backward) analysis was performed using independent variables with statistically significant effects. IBM SPSS v23.0 program was used for statistical analysis. Results As a result of the analysis, The frequency of internet usage due to health related topics, to monitor of his/her health status via internet,reliability health information obtained from social networks, negative effects of seeking prescribed medicine or adviced tretaments from internet on family and social life were determined as predictive factors of the Cyberchondia levels [F (6,59) = 16,529, p <0,001, Corrected R2 = 0,361, Durbin Watson = 1,855 ]. Conclusion Since these independent factors compatible with the definition of cyberkondria it can provide meaningful contributions to the level of scale scores,so it is possible to interpret the scale as an instrument suitable for measuring the level of Cyberchondia. However, cut-off values should be determined in terms of the Cyberchondia levels of the SCO-15. In the future, there is a need for follow-up studies that can link causality to this new concept and related factors introduced in this study