What Happens When You Go Online to Check Your Health? Implications of Online Health Information Seeking for Health Anxious People

• In Event: Health Information Seeking

Abstract

The current study examined the relationship between online health information seeking and peoples’ feelings about their health situation, health care utilization, and satisfaction with health care, and the moderating role of health anxiety in this relationship. Results show that online health information seeking makes people feel more frustrated and overwhelmed. But in particular, more health anxious people feel more confused and frightened by the information they found online. People who search for health information online visit their doctor more often and evaluate their doctor less good in terms of providing correct diagnosis and effective treatment. Our results furthermore seem to reveal that health anxious people always have a more negative attitude towards their doctor, compared to non-health anxious people who are influenced by the information found online. We conclude that online health information seeking has potential downsides, and these might pose a greater threat to health anxious people.

Authors

• Fam te Poel, VU University Amsterdam

• Martin Tanis, VU U Amsterdam

• Tilo Hartmann, VU University Amsterdam

• Susanne E. Baumgartner, U of Amsterdam