Reliability and validity study of the Turkish version of cyberchondria severity scale

Abstract

The exacerbation of health anxiety as the result of repeated online searches for medical information has been termed cyberchondria. Cyberchondria may lead to increased use of health services and increased healthcare costs. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of Turkish form of the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS). This study was conducted on 335 employees who work in Pamukkale University. Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) was used for concurrent validity. After language adaptation and content validity of the CSS, confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) was performed. The mean age of participants was 38.2 ± 8.5 years and 64.5% of them were male. Cronbach alpha coefficient of CSS calculated for the reliability was 0.89, while the subscales ranged from 0.65 to 0.85. The correlation coefficients for test-retest reliability were ranged from 0.53–0.71. Correlation of CSS with DASS was r = 0.33. Fit indices based on CFA results were all excellent or within acceptable ranges. The Turkish version of CSS has adequate psychometric properties of validity and reliability, and can be used to assess cyberchondria. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.