JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

With the accelerating global aging population and the rapid development of digital technology, health management for the elderly has gradually become an important issue in the field of public health. However, the complexity of online health information often triggers cyberchondria and health information avoidance behaviors among older adults, posing a serious threat to their health management. Existing research on how older adults cope with complex health information is relatively limited, and there is a notable gap in understanding the potential relationship between cyberchondria and health information avoidance.

Objective:

This study aims to reveal the mechanisms influencing health information avoidance behaviors among older adults from the perspective of cyberchondria and evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation as an intervention strategy.

Methods:

This study is divided into two sub-studies. Sub-study 1, based on self-determination theory, takes cyberchondria as the mediator and constructs a model of factors influencing health information avoidance among the elderly from two dimensions: internal factors (positive metacognition, health self-efficacy) and external factors (subjective norms, health information similarity). A cross-sectional survey (N = 236) was conducted to test the proposed model. Sub-study 2 examined the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation as an intervention through a 4-week mindfulness training experiment (N = 94).

Results:

Positive metacognition (β = .259, p = .002), health self-efficacy (β = .251, p = .001), and health information similarity (β = .293, p = .000) were significant predictors of health information avoidance among the elderly. Cyberchondria played a mediating role in this process (95% Boot CI = [.035, .189]; 95% Boot CI = [.043, .185]; 95% Boot CI = [.063, .191]). However, subjective norms were not significant predictors (β = ‒.109, p = .132). The study also found that while mindfulness could not directly reduce the occurrence of cyberchondria (p = .179 > .05), it significantly inhibited the transformation of cyberchondria into health information avoidance behavior (95% CI = [‒.580, ‒.131]).

Conclusions:

This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of health information behaviors and psychological mechanisms among older adults, bridging the gap between cyberchondria and health information avoidance research. Practically, it proposes specific strategies, including mindfulness meditation and improvements in digital health information delivery, to reduce health information avoidance among older adults. These findings provide scientific theoretical support and practical intervention measures to improve health management for the elderly.