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Medical leadership and reducing variation in healthcare
Published in Jill Aylott, Jeff Perring, Ann LN Chapman, Ahmed Nassef, Medical Leadership, 2018
Looking specifically at blood test requests, it is recognised that healthcare professionals request unnecessary tests for a wide range of reasons, including fear of litigation (risk avoidance), lack of experience, uncertainty, lack of awareness of guidelines or the cost of investigations, as a consequence of protocol-based requesting (QOF) or as a result of patient anxiety or patient pressure (Figure 9.1). Time available for consultation is a significant factor influencing the decision about doing diagnostic tests. Diagnostic tests are also used a ‘placebo’ to allay patient anxiety. Internet searching by patients increases anxiety (cyberchondria), and GPs are put under pressure to do tests.
The NHS of the future: resilient, adaptive and united
Published in Gina Johnson, Ian Hill-Smith, Chirag Bakhai, The Minor Illness Manual, 2018
Gina Johnson, Ian Hill-Smith, Chirag Bakhai
Given the challenges posed by rising demand and the resultant pressures on the health service, use of technology in these ways is likely to aid sustainability. However, this alone will probably not be enough. As well as meeting demand through technology, it will be essential to focus on reducing the demand itself, or at least curbing its increase. Our clinical interactions are key to this. Every encounter is an opportunity to guide behaviour change, to explore health-seeking behaviour, and through understanding underlying beliefs, motivators, concerns and expectations, appropriately educate people to better care for themselves. The Internet is already democratising healthcare; we must further leverage this to our advantage in promoting better self-management while taking care to avoid cyberchondria.
Glossary
Published in Pat Croskerry, Karen S. Cosby, Mark L. Graber, Hardeep Singh, Diagnosis, 2017
Pat Croskerry, Karen S. Cosby, Mark L. Graber, Hardeep Singh
cyberchondria, cyberchondriasis: an unfounded escalation of concern over common symptoms based on information read on the Internet that may result in undue anxiety and further risk of harm from self-diagnosis and self-treatment.
Investigation of the effect of cyberchondria behavior on e-health literacy in healthcare workers
Published in Hospital Topics, 2023
Özlem Özer, Sümeyye Özmen, Okan Özkan
“Cyberchondria” is a term derived from the words “cyber” and “hypochondriasis.” It is not clear when this term was first used. Some people claim that the starting point of this term is the article titled “On the Internet, diseases are rampant, playing to worries of hypochondriacs,” written by Ann Carrns in 1999 in the Wall Street Journal (Starcevic and Berle 2013). Cyberchondria is characterized by online searches for health information (Barke et al. 2016) and is defined as excessive and repeated searches for health information on the Internet due to health-related concerns and anxieties (Starcevic and Berle 2013). In other words, cyberchondria is a type of anxiety that occurs when a person conducts Internet searches for issues related to their health (Selvi et al. 2016).
Addressing Gaps in Knowledge about Cyberchondria
Published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2023
Why is that person presenting with cyberchondria at this particular time? What precipitated cyberchondria and what is its purpose? It is a specific symptom or health concern that initiated online health search, and is the person primarily seeking reassurance? What are the consequences of cyberchondria and how has one’s life changed because of excessive online health search? For example, has the person been avoiding his/her doctor or visiting the doctor too often? Why does excessive online health search persist despite the problems it has caused? Is it because the search is experienced as a way of coping with uncertainty? (Starcevic, 2023, p. 233).