Abstract:

The paper aimed to verify whether the level of e-health literacy is a factor that reduces the risk of cyberchondria and increases the well-being. We also analysed other determinants of the level of cyberchondria, such as trust in online information sources and to what degree they reassure information seekers.  

The online survey was carried out on a sample of 1,067 Polish Internet users. We found that people with a higher degree of e-health literacy enjoy a higher level of well-being. We also pointed out that high e-literacy does not guard us against cyberchondria, but a low degree of trust in online information reduces the risk of developing this abnormal behaviour. Moreover,  the higher the level of cyberchondria was, the more reassured the respondents felt after searching the Web for health-related information. We also proved that socio-demographic characteristics, except for the material situation, have no significant correlation with the degree of cyberchondria.