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Online Health Information Seeking Scale (OHISS)3

Online Health Information Seeking Scale (OHISS) Test

In 1 minute, understand how often and how intensely you search online for symptoms and health advice. Get quick insight that supports better conversations, targeted guidance, and smarter care decisions.

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Questions: 41 minute

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

22,838 views

2,546 completions

2,114 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

18/20

Online Health Information Seeking (OHIS)

Measures how strongly a person tends to search for and use online sources to obtain health and medical information.

Low seeking

Moderate seeking

High seeking

4 – 6: Low seeking | 7 – 14: Moderate seeking | 15 – 20: High seeking

A score of 18 falls in the High seeking range, indicating frequent and active searching for health information online.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Worried symptom searchers

41%OF USERS

People who often google new or unclear symptoms to calm fears, decide what to do next, or check if they should see a doctor.

Patients managing conditions

34%OF USERS

People with chronic or recurring health issues who regularly look up treatment options, side effects, and lifestyle advice to feel more in control.

Clinicians and psychology researchers

25%OF USERS

Professionals who use the scale to assess clients’ online health information habits and how they relate to anxiety, trust, and decision-making.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Online Health Information-Seeking Scale (OHIS)

Average

15.3

Normal range

13.1 — 17.6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always

These are 3 of the 4 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Online Health Information Seeking Scale (OHISS) Test - Symptoms and Signs

cyberpsychology

health

This brief self-report measure assesses how frequently an individual seeks health-related information online. The Online Health Information Seeking Scale (OHISS) is intended to characterize typical patterns of internet-based health information seeking in clinical or research contexts.

The instrument includes 4 items and typically takes about 1 minutes to complete. Items ask respondents to rate their usual online health information seeking behaviors, which may be used to describe engagement with digital sources for health questions. The Online Health Information Seeking Scale (OHISS) was developed by R. E. Rice and T. L. Thompson.

Author: R. E. Rice, T. L. Thompson

Literature: Norman, C. D., & Skinner, H. A. eHealth literacy: Essential skills for consumer health in a networked world. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2006.; Zhu, X., Zheng, T., Ding, L., Zhang, X. Exploring associations between eHealth literacy, cyberchondria, online health information seeking and sleep quality among university students: A cross-section study. Heliyon. 2023.