Murat DOĞAN, Birgül Deniz DOĞAN
Health Sciences Quarterly - 2026;6(4):751-761
This study aimed to examine the association between health literacy and cyberchondria among adults attending primary care and to evaluate whether health literacy was independently associated with cyberchondria severity after accounting for selected participant characteristics. This cross-sectional study included 400 adults attending a Family Health Center in Kırşehir, Türkiye, between 15 May and 15 July 2025. Participants were recruited using consecutive non-probability sampling. The minimum required sample size was calculated as 384, and 400 participants were included. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, the Turkish Health Literacy Scale-32 and the Cyberchondria Severity Scale. Because most continuous variables were not normally distributed, non-parametric tests were used for bivariate analyses, followed by multivariable linear regression. Of the participants, 52.0% had inadequate and 24.8% had problematic/limited health literacy. No significant association was found between health literacy index and total cyberchondria score. In multivariable linear regression, health literacy was not independently associated with total cyberchondria score (B=-0.009, 95% CI: -0.236 to 0.217), whereas older age (B=0.204, 95% CI: 0.041 to 0.368), asking a doctor to prescribe antibiotics (B=6.455, 95% CI: 2.060 to 10.849), and using the internet as the first source of help for health problems (B=11.894, 95% CI: 7.473 to 16.316) were independently associated with higher cyberchondria severity.
