%0 Journal Article
%@ 2291-9694
%I JMIR Publications
%V 8
%N 5
%P e16793
%T Effect of Online Health Information Seeking on Anxiety in Hospitalized Pregnant Women: Cohort Study
%A Coglianese,Fabiana
%A Beltrame Vriz,Giulia
%A Soriani,Nicola
%A Piras,Gianluca Niccolò
%A Comoretto,Rosanna Irene
%A Clemente,Laura
%A Fasan,Jessica
%A Cristiano,Lucia
%A Schiavinato,Valentina
%A Adamo,Valter
%A Marchesoni,Diego
%A Gregori,Dario
%+ Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, Via Loredan 18, Padua, 35121, Italy, 39 0498275384, dario.gregori@unipd.it
%K anxiety
%K pregnant women
%K web health information
%K internet use
%D 2020
%7 6.5.2020
%9 Original Paper
%J JMIR Med Inform
%G English
%X Background: There are approximately 1,000,000 pregnant women at high risk for obstetric complications per year, more than half of whom require hospitalization. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the relation between online health information seeking and anxiety levels in a sample of hospitalized woman with pregnancy-related complications. Methods: A sample of 105 pregnant women hospitalized in northern Italy, all with an obstetric complication diagnosis, completed different questionnaires: Use of Internet Health-information (UIH) questionnaire about use of the internet, EuroQOL 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire on quality of life, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire measuring general anxiety levels, and a questionnaire about critical events occurring during hospitalization. Results: Overall, 98/105 (93.3%) of the women used the internet at home to obtain nonspecific information about health in general and 95/105 (90.5%) of the women used the internet to specifically search for information related to their obstetric disease. Online health information-seeking behavior substantially decreased the self-reported anxiety levels (P=.008). Conclusions: Web browsing for health information was associated with anxiety reduction, suggesting that the internet can be a useful instrument in supporting professional intervention to control and possibly reduce discomfort and anxiety for women during complicated pregnancies. 
%M 32374268
%R 10.2196/16793
%U https://medinform.jmir.org/2020/5/e16793
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/16793
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32374268