--- title: Do young women with PMS search online for health information more and develop health anxiety from it? description: Yes. Young women with PMS were more likely to search online for health information and reported higher health anxiety from internet searches. PMS severity rem url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/cyberchondria-levels-and-internet-use-behaviors-of-young-women-with-premenstrual-2026/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Do young women with PMS search online for health information more and develop health anxiety from it? Survey study, 2026 # Do young women with PMS search online for health information more and develop health anxiety from it? Yes. Young women with PMS were more likely to search online for health information and reported higher health anxiety from internet searches. PMS severity remained linked to health anxiety even after accounting for stress and internet time. Moderate study design 451 nursing students (young women) ## What they did Cross-sectional study of 451 nursing students. They used questionnaires to measure PMS symptoms and cyberchondria (anxiety about health triggered by internet searches). ## What they found Young women most frequently searched online for information about menstrual irregularity, dysmenorrhea, and PMS symptoms. There was a significant positive correlation between PMS scores and health anxiety scores. Daily internet use was positively associated with both PMS and health anxiety scores, but the associations were small. Even after accounting for income, alcohol use, stress, and internet time, PMS severity remained significantly associated with health anxiety. ## What it means for you Women with PMS tend to search online for health information more often and develop anxiety from what they find. Healthcare providers should help women with PMS learn to use reliable online resources and build digital health literacy. The main limitation is that this is cross-sectional, so we cannot know if PMS causes more searching or if health anxiety from searching makes PMS worse. 451 nursing students studied positive correlation between PMS and health anxiety small magnitude of internet use association ## About the study Original title Cyberchondria levels and internet use behaviors of young women with premenstrual syndrome: a cross-sectional study Authors Duygu Güleç Şatır, Oya Kavlak, Sümeyye Bakır et al. Journal BMC Psychology Year 2026 Study design Survey study Participants 451 What was tested None. This was an observational study. Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05729-2](https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05729-2) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Dysmenorrhea and period pain](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-dysmenorrhea/)[Apps and digital interventions](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-digital-health/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Interview study, 2024 How do young women use period tracker apps to manage their menstrual cycles? Cohort study, 2025 Does online health literacy link to better menstrual and mental health in teenage girls? Systematic review, 2025 Does teaching adolescent girls about their menstrual cycle and health help reduce period pain and PMS? Non-randomised trial, 2026 Does video-guided digital menstrual exercise reduce PMS and period pain in adolescent girls? Survey study, 2024 How common is PMS among adolescent girls and what factors are linked to it? Review, 2024 Does yoga help reduce period pain and premenstrual symptoms? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗