WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

Dr. Tara Ramtel*, Binita Shakya and Dr. Elina Achhami

ABSTRACT

Objective: To determine the prevalence of cyberchondria and associated factors among undergraduate health sciences students in Lalitpur, Nepal. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 215 students studying in bachelor in public health, nursing and pharmacy courses at Asian College for Advance Studies, Lalitpur, Nepal. Study area was selected purposively and enumerative sampling technique was used to select participants. Semi-structured questionnaires were developed for sociodemographic information and Cyberchondria Severity Scale-15 was used to determine prevalence of cyberchondria. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 25 with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Majority 101(47%) of students were affected by cyberchondria with at least one domain. Of the five domains, excessiveness affected to all the participants, followed by distress 210 (97.6%), reassurance 209 (97.2%), compulsion 208 (96.7%) and mistrust 141 (65.5%). Excessiveness was severely affected among 157 (73.0%) students. There was association between the prevalence of cyberchondria with the respondents’ socio-demographic variables; gender (?²=7.72; OR= 1.64; CI=1.23-2.19; p=0.008) and the course of education (?²=27.23; OR= 2.39; CI=1.64-3.49; p=<0.001). Conclusions: Nearly half of the participants had cyberchondria. All of the respondents who had cyberchondria utilized smartphones to access the internet and used it daily for more than 6 hours during the day and more than an hour at night. It needs to be addressed to lessen its consequence on individuals by simply raising awareness and assisting them in identifying the issue.