Cyberchondria: Overlap with health anxiety and unique relations with impairment, quality of life, and service utilization

Cyberchondria refers to a clinical phenomenon in which repeated Internet searches regarding medical information result in excessive concerns about physical health. Cyberchondria is positively associated with symptoms of health anxiety, though it remains unclear as to whether cyberchondria poses a unique public burden. The current study replicated previous findings regarding the relationship between cyberchondria and health anxiety, and extended those findings to examine the extent to which health anxiety and cyberchondria may be differentially associated with public health outcomes, including impairment, quality of life, and service utilization. Community participants (N = 462) recruited via online crowdsourcing completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing cyberchondria, health anxiety, and measures of public health outcomes, including the WHOQOL and SDS. Bifactor latent variable modeling indicated that cyberchondria was closely related to, yet importantly distinct from, health anxiety. Moreover, when accounting for overlap with health anxiety, cyberchondria was associated with increased functional impairment and healthcare utilization. Results provide further support for the identification of cyberchondria as a distinct set of clinical symptoms that may pose a significant public health burden. Future research should determine ways in which to treat and/or prevent symptoms.