Mapping the psychology of cyberchondria: A bibliometric analysis of online health information seeking and health anxiety (2009-2025).

Authors

Banu Terzi, Ayla Tuzcu İnce, Fatma Azizoğlu

Published in

Archives of psychiatric nursing. Volume 64. Pages 152241. Epub Sep 16, 2026.

Abstract

This study aimed to identify, visualize, and reveal trends in research conducted between 2009 and 2025 in the fields of cyberchondria, online health information, and health anxiety.
The data for this research were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection database on January 31st, 2026. Performance analysis, visualization, mapping, and bibliometric analyses were performed using the R software Biblioshiny interface. For bibliometric data, searches were performed in the WoS database using the keywords Cyberchondria (Title) AND Online Health Information (All Fields) AND Health Anxiety (All Fields) AND 2025 AND Article OR Review Article (Document Types) AND Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) OR Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) OR Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI).
The analysis revealed a positive and statistically significant upward trend in the number of publications in recent years (β = 1.43, p < 0.001, R² = 0.72). The author who contributed most to the field was Starcevic V (n = 13), the country with the most publications was the Peoples Republic of China (n = 25), the institution that produced the most publications was the University of Sydney (n = 13), the institution that provided the most funding support was the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health (n = 13), and the journal with the most publications was the Journal of Anxiety Disorders (n = 7).
The thematic evolution diagram of studies in this field shows that cyberchondria research has shifted over time from general anxiety and hypochondria-based approaches to online health information search behavior and subdimensions of health anxiety.

PMID:
42863892
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Oct 2026.

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