General practitioners' challenges and strategies in dealing with Internet-related health anxieties-results of a qualitative study among primary care physicians in Germany.

ABSTRACT: Time and again, it is discussed that in medical practices, the number of patients who develop health anxieties due to extensive health information searches on the Internet is increasing. The objective of this study is to explore and describe general practitioners' experiences and attitudes towards cyberchondria patients as well as strategies to stabilize affected patients. Following a qualitative approach, oral personal semi-standardized interviews with general practitioners (N = 38) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, were conducted in 2019. In the course of a content analysis, one can see that most interviewees see the emergence of Internet-related health anxieties as an increasing problem in everyday care. Affected patients not only show marked levels of doubt and nervousness as well as h

SUBMITTER: Wangler J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7518985 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature