Online health research and health anxiety: A systematic review and conceptual integration

Abstract

Using the Internet to obtain health information (“online health research,” OHR) is commonplace. This article provides a systematic narrative review of evidence concerning the relationship between OHR and health anxiety. We conclude that health anxiety is associated with more frequent self-reported OHR, heightened distress after OHR, and increased doctor visits post-OHR. Evidence suggests that OHR often has a reassurance seeking function and can relieve anxiety, but that it can also cause alarm and become a distressing, compulsive behavior. We present a novel model that integrates these perspectives and existing research within a single explanatory framework that distinguishes between problematic OHR and compulsive OHR, and describes the role of positive and negative metacognitions in their respective development.