Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Social Determinants of Health of Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences
2 Health Information Technology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to predict health information‑seeking behavior (HISB) components
based on health anxiety among users of public libraries.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research was a descriptive‑correlational study. The statistical
population consisted of users of public libraries. Data collection tools included the HISB questionnaire
and the Short Form of Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI).
RESULTS: The results indicated that health anxiety was a significant predictor of the components
of HISB. The illness likelihood had a direct relationship with the components of the need for health
information and the purposefulness of health information seeking, and it was inversely related to
barriers to obtaining health information. In addition, the preoccupation with illness was directly related
to the components of the need for health information, the diversity of health information sources, the
time of referring to health information sources, the purposefulness of health information seeking, and
evaluation of reasons for referring to the library.
CONCLUSION: Among the components of health anxiety, preoccupation to the disease has the
highest role in the emergence of users’ information‑seeking behavior.
Keywords
health information seeking behavior: Case of young internet users
in Shiraz. Hum Inf Interact 2016;3:67‑78.
2. Zare Gavgani V, Gheysari E, Asghari Jafar Abadi M. A study
on the information seeking behavior of members of Qazvin
public libraries on health related topics. Res Inf Sci Public Libr
2014;20:93‑112.
3. Gholami M, Fallahi Khoshknab M, Seyed Bagher Madah S,
Ahmadi F, Khankeh H, Naderi N. Information needs of patients
with cardiovascular disease in health information seeking process:
A qualitative study. J Nursing Education (JNE) 2014;2:33‑49.
4. Latifi M, Barahmand N, Fahimnia F. Post‑mastectomy barriers
for information seeking in women with breast cancer. J Health
Inf Manage 2016;13:326‑32.
5. Okhovati M, Sharifpoor E, Hamzeh Zadeh M, Shahsavari M,
Soltan Shahi M. The role of public libraries on Kerman health
information seeking behavior. J Health Biomed Inf 2016;3:48‑56.
6. Yi YJ. Consumer Health Information Behavior in Public Libraries:
A Mixed Methods Study. The Florida State University; 2012.
7. Lalazaryan A, Zare Farashbandi F, Rahimi A, Hassanzade A. The
impact of personal factors on diabetic patient’s health information
seeking behavior. J Health Adm 2015;17:97‑108.
8. Sabzevari S, Nikbakht Nasrabadi A, Negahban Bonabi T. Sources
of women’s health information: A qualitative study. J Qual Res
Health Sci 2015;3:349‑62.
9. Karimi J, Homayuni Najafabadi A, Homayuni Najafabadi F.
Evaluation of psychometric properties of the health anxiety
inventory. Hakim Health Syst Res J 2015;17:297‑305.
10. Lagoe C, Atkin D. Health anxiety in the digital age: An exploration
of psychological determinants of online health information
seeking. Comput Hum Behav 2015;52:484‑91.
11. Hadjistavropoulos HD, Asmundson GJ, LaChapelle DL,
Quine A. The role of health anxiety among patients with chronic
pain in determining response to therapy. Pain Res Manag
2002;7:127‑33.
12. Ivanova E. Internet addiction and cyberchondria‑their relationship
with well‑being. J Educ Cult Soc 2013;1:57‑71.
13. Singh K, Brown RJ. Health‑related internet habits and
health anxiety in university students. Anxiety Stress Coping
2014;27:542‑54.
14. Norr AM, Capron DW, Schmidt NB. Medical information seeking:
Impact on risk for anxiety psychopathology. J Behav Ther Exp
Psychiatry 2014;45:402‑7.
15. Te Poel F, Baumgartner SE, Hartmann T, Tanis M. The curious
case of cyberchondria: A longitudinal study on the reciprocal
relationship between health anxiety and online health information
seeking. J Anxiety Disord 2016;43:32‑40.
16. Eastin MS, Guinsler NM. Worried and wired: Effects of health
anxiety on information‑seeking and health care utilization
behaviors. Cyberpsychol Behav 2006;9:494‑8.
17. Starcevic V. Cyberchondria: Challenges of problematic online
searches for health‑related information. Psychother Psychosom
2017;86:129‑33.
18. Baumgartner SE, Hartmann T. The role of health anxiety in
online health information search. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw
2011;14:613‑8.
19. Singh K, Brown RJ. From headache to tumour: An examination of health anxiety, health‑related internet use and ‘query escalation’.
J Health Psychol 2016;21:2008‑20.
20. Muse K, McManus F, Leung C, Meghreblian B, Williams JM.
Cyberchondriasis: Fact or fiction? A preliminary examination of
the relationship between health anxiety and searching for health
information on the internet. J Anxiety Disord 2012;26:189‑96.
21. Tanis M, Hartmann T, Te Poel F. Online health anxiety and
consultation satisfaction: A quantitative exploratory study on
their relations. Patient Educ Couns 2016;99:1227‑32.
22. Mathes BM, Norr AM, Allan NP, Albanese BJ, Schmidt NB.
Cyberchondria: Overlap with health anxiety and unique relations
with impairment, quality of life, and service utilization. Psychiatry
Res 2018;261:204‑11.
23. Davarpanah MR, Aazami M. Information need and information
seeking behavior among nurses: Review of the previous studies.
Res Inf Sci Public Libr 2011;17:427‑53.
24. Ntlotlang T, Grand B. The role of libraries in the dissemination
of health information in Botswana: A study of Mochudi and
Molepolole public libraries. Libr Rev 2016;65:320‑49.
25. Zamani M, Soleymani MR, Afshar M, Shahrzadi L, Zadeh AH.
Information‑seeking behavior of cardiovascular disease patients
in Isfahan University of medical sciences hospitals. J Educ Health
Promot 2014;3:83.
26. Panahi S, Asghari Moghadam MA, Shaeeri M R ,
Eghtedar Nejhad S. Psychometric properties of a Persian version
of the Short Form of Health Anxiety Inventory in non‑clinical
Iranian populations. Q Educ Meas 2010;1:21‑46.
27. Salkovskis PM, Rimes KA, Warwick HM, Clark DM. The health
anxiety inventory: Development and validation of scales for the
measurement of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. Psychol
Med 2002;32:843‑53.
28. Abramowitz JS, Deacon BJ, Valentiner DP. The Short Health
Anxiety Inventory: Psychometric properties and construct validity
in a non‑clinical sample. Cognit Ther Res 2007;31:871‑83.
29. Dibajnia P, Panahi S, Moghadasin M. Evaluation health
anxiety in patients that refer to internal clinics. J Educ Psychol
2013;4:91‑7.
30. DavoudiI, Nargesi F, Mehrabi Honarmand M. Gender differences
in health anxiety and its related dysfunctional beliefs: With control
of age. Q J Health Psychol 2013;1:30‑8.
31. Fergus TA, Dolan SL. Problematic internet use and internet
searches for medical information: The role of health anxiety.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw 2014;17:761‑5.
32. White RW, Horvitz E, editors. Studies of the onset and persistence
of medical concerns in search logs. In: Proceedings of the
35th international ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and
Development in Information Retrieval. Portland, USA. 2012.
33. Kim S, Lee JH. Time course of attentional bias for health‑related
information in individuals with health anxiety. J Health Psychol
2016;21:1527‑35.
34. Fink P, Ørnbøl E, Christensen KS. The outcome of health anxiety
in primary care. A two‑year follow‑up study on health care costs
and self‑rated health. PLoS One 2010;5:e9873.
35. Doherty‑Torstrick ER, Walton KE, Fallon BA. Cyberchondria:
Parsing health anxiety from online behavior. Psychosomatics
2016;57:390‑400.
36. Hadjistavropoulos HD, Craig KD, Hadjistavropoulos T. Cognitive
and behavioral responses to illness information: The role of health
anxiety. Behav Res Ther 1998;36:149‑64.
37. Oh YS, Song NK. Investigating relationships between
health‑related problems and online health information seeking.
Comput Inform Nurs 2017;35:29‑35.
38. Jung M. Determinants of health information‑seeking behavior:
Implications for post‑treatment cancer patients. Asian Pac J Cancer
Prev 2014;15:6499‑504.
39. Koszegi B. Health anxiety and patient behavior. J Health Econ
2003;22:1073‑84.
40. Ivanova E, Karabeliova S. Elaborating on internet addiction and
cyberchondria – Relationships, direct and mediated effects. J Educ
Cult Soc 2014;1:127‑44.
41. Loos A. Cyberchondria: Too much information for the health
anxious patient? J Consum Health Internet 2013;17:439‑45.
42. Ahn JA, Chae D. The influences of socio‑individual determinants
and health information seeking on health‑promoting behaviors
among migrant women: A cross‑sectional study. Jpn J Nurs Sci
2019;3:88‑102.
43. Langston ME., Fuzzell L, Lewis‑Thames MW, Khan S, Moore J,
Disparities in health information‑seeking behaviors and fatalistic
views of cancer by sexual orientation identity: A nationally
representative study of adults in the United States. LGBT Health
2109;6:192‑200.
44. Lee St, Lin J. The influence of offline and online intrinsic
motivations on online health information seeking. Health
Commun 2019;34(23):1‑8.[Doi: 10.1080/10410236.2019.1620088].
)