Self-Diagnosis in the Digital Age: The Rise of Cyberchondria and Its Impacts

Diagnosing diseases is figuring out what health issue someone has. Sometimes it’s easy, but other times it’s complicated. There is a lot of health data out there, but tools to analyze it aren’t always accurate. The old ways of diagnosing rely on humans and can make mistakes.People believe that using AI can help speed up diagnosis and reduce errors.

A review of studies from the last ten years found 105 articles on AI in medical diagnostics, covering methods like machine learning and deep learning. This research focuses on how AI can help predict diseases like heart disease and kidney issues. It also suggests where future research should go.

These days most of the people rely on online methods of diagnosis because online health info is popular because it's cheap, easy to get, and people can stay anonymous. This helps bridge the gap between patients and doctors. Patients learn about medical terms and feel more involved in their care. This is especially true in cities where busy schedules make it hard to visit a doctor. The Internet is a source of comfort when it comes to the unknown nature of things. Web-based responses and the way they perceive them. But does it give an accurate diagnosis?

One big issue is “cyberchondria” .This is when people obsessively search for health info online, leading to stress and anxiety. This behavior is becoming a real problem with our reliance on technology. ^[2]

Cyberchondria, a downside of going digital, has had an impact on healthcare. It can disrupt treatment and raise anxiety levels for patients. It also might lead people to avoid getting emergency help when they need it. Many rely on symptom-checking websites instead of seeing a doctor. Because of this, these sites need to take more responsibility and involve medical professionals more.

When people worry about their health, they often turn to the Internet for answers. But the responses they find aren’t always reliable. Many online results focus on worst-case scenarios, even if those aren't true. Those searching for help might not remember that.

A study was done online with 336 people. They used Microsoft Excel to look at the data. The team used a chi-square test, and they considered a p-value of less than 0.05 to be important.Many people tried to self-diagnose illnesses. This was especially true for those in the medical field, who felt their online diagnoses were more accurate. However, searching for health info online made many feel anxious, especially among medical workers.This is especially concerning with symptom checkers. In tests, these programs got the right diagnosis only 34% of the time. Yet, people still use them when they face serious issues like chest pain.

It’s important to look at this issue. We need to know who is likely to use the Internet for health information. This helps us see how online searches are changing medical care.

References:

1) Farnood, Annabel, Bridget Johnston, and Frances S. Mair. 2020. “A Mixed Methods Systematic Review of the Effects of Patient Online Self-diagnosing in the ‘Smart-phone Society’ on the Healthcare Professional-patient Relationship and Medical Authority.” BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 20 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-020-01243-6.

2) Hullur, Himaad, Raveena Kataria, Vincy Koshy, and Oshin Behl. 2020. “Cyberchondria: Prevalence of Internet Based Self Diagnosis Among Medical and Non-medical Urban Indian Population.” International Journal of Contemporary Medical Research [IJCMR] 7 (3). https://doi.org/10.21276/ijcmr.2020.7.3.17.

(Input from various sources)

 (Rehash/Dr. Noureen/MSM)