Online health information seeking behavior, healthcare access, and health status during exceptional times

Online health information seeking behavior (e-HISB) is becoming increasingly common and the trend has accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when individuals strongly relied upon the Internet to stay informed by becoming exposed to a wider array of health information. Despite eHISB having become a global trend, very few empirical investigations have analyzed its potential influence on healthcare access and individuals' health status. In this paper, we try to fill this gap. We use data from the second SHARE Corona Survey, supplemented with data from the previous 8th wave of SHARE, and estimate a recursive model of e-HISB, healthcare access, and individuals' health status that accounts for individuals' unobserved heterogeneity. Our findings suggest that eHISB can empower individuals to better understand health concerns, facilitating improved health condition management. However, e-HISB can also trigger a chain reaction, as navigating vast amonts of online health information can heighten fear and anxiety. This increased anxiety may lead to higher utilization of medical services, adversely affecting individuals' perceptions of their health.