Maria Naseer Malik, Mir Ahmad Talha Mustafa, Maira Yaseen, Sanniya Khan Ghauri, Arslaan Javaeed.
Assessment of Cyberchondria among patients presenting to the Emergency Department of three hospitals in Islamabad, Pakistan.
South Asian J Emerg Med Jan ;2(2):19-23.

OBJECTIVE: Cyberchondriasis is an emerging mental health disorder in lower and middle-income countries. The study was aimed for assessment of cyberchondriasis in patients presenting to the emergency department of three tertiary care hospitals of Pakistan METHODS: A questionnaire-based study, formulated on the Cyberchondriasis Severity Scale, was carried out in three emergency departments of tertiary care hospitals in Islamabad, Pakistan. The study duration was three months i.e. March to May 2019. A self-reported questionnaire was distributed amongst participants and results were calculated through SPSS version 23. Ethical approval was obtained. RESULTS: Out of 958 participants, 304 people returned the questionnaire with a response rate of 31.4%. 62.17% (189) patients admitted that if they would notice an unexplained bodily sensation, they would often search for it on the internet. Alarmingly, a significant population (11.18%) of the participants said that they would rarely trust their GP over their online self-diagnosis. Online searching and self-diagnosis made 80.26% (244) patients panic and 10.52% (32) always found it dificult to sleep after researching perceived medical conditions. CONCLUSION: Many aspects of cyberchondriasis are evident in the study. Further studies are required to report the exact prevalence and association with mental health.

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