The Effect of Cyberchondria on the Frequency of Admission to the Emergency Department and Death Anxiety in Patients with Arrhythmia
Project no. 23736 · Status: Kapanmış · 2022
Summary
<p>Objective: This study was carried out to determine the effect of cyberchondria on the frequency of admission to the emergency department and death anxiety in patients with arrhythmia.</p><p>Materials and Methods: The sample of descriptive and relational research; It consisted of 225 patients who applied to Ege University Health Application and Research Center, Department of Emergency Medicine between May-October 2022. The data of the study were collected through face-to-face interviews and questionnaires using the “Patient Description Form”, “Cyberchondria Severity Scale Short Form” and “Abdel-Khalek Death Anxiety Scale” in patients who met the inclusion criteria. While evaluating the data; Appropriate statistical methods were used, and the results were interpreted at the 95% confidence interval, at p<0.05 significance level.</p><p>Results: The mean age of the patients participating in the study was 52.07±11.35 years and 50.2% were male and 44.4% were high school graduates. The mean duration of diagnosis is 2.56±1.26 years. The mean score of the patients' Cyberchondria Severity Scale Short Form was 55.82±6.20. The factors affecting the severity of cyberchondria were education and income status, frequency of internet use, reliance on internet information, applying to the emergency room and doing research on the internet before starting the treatment, having voluntarily tested and using drugs in the last year, except for the recommendation of the physician. The mean score of the Abdel-Khalek Death Anxiety Scale was found to be 75.25±10.03. It was observed that the factors affecting death anxiety were the frequency of internet use, reliance on internet information, applying to the emergency department, and doing research on the internet before starting the treatment. While there was no statistically significant relationship (p>0.05) between the patients' mean scores of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale Short Form and the frequency of admission to the emergency department (p>0.05), a statistically significant relationship (p<0.05) was found between the mean scores of the Abdel-Khalek Death Anxiety Scale.</p><p>Conclusion: In our study, it was determined that the severity of cyberchondria of the patients was above the average. Most of the introductory features were found to affect the severity of cyberchondria. The mean score of the Abdel-Khalek Death Anxiety Scale was determined to be above-high with a value close to the highest possible score for death anxiety level. It has been observed that those who use the internet more frequently, who rely more on internet information, who do research on the internet before applying to the emergency department and before starting the treatment given, have a higher level of death anxiety. It was concluded that the severity of cyberchondria of the patients was not associated with the frequency of admission to the emergency department, and it was shown that death anxiety increased as the severity of cyberchondria increased.</p><p>Keywords: Arrhythmia; cyberchondria; emergency; death anxiety; nursing </p>