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. 2022 Nov;48(6):102603.
doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2022.102603. Epub 2022 Sep 20.

Online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students

Esra Abdoh  1
Affiliations

Online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students

Esra Abdoh. None. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, students have trouble coping with the available health information regarding the coronavirus in their daily lives because of misinformation.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students at Taibah University during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: To investigate the primary goal, this study used a simultaneous exploratory mixed methods design. Seventeen students participated in phone interviews, and 306 were invited to complete an online survey.

Analysis: The collected data was analyzed using both quantitative (SPSS) and qualitative (NVivo 10) methods.

Results: Search engines, social media, and YouTube were most often used by the respondents as sources to search for COVID-19-related information. COVID-19 symptoms, restrictions, and the current spread of COVID-19 were the most searched topics by the respondents. Significant and relevant differences emerged for the digital health literacy subscales "information search" and "adding self-generated content". However, there were no significant differences in the digital health literacy subscale "determining relevance".

Conclusion: Using the internet to provide health information tailored to the needs and interests of students to seek health information online and thereby improve their health literacy.

Keywords: COVID-19; Digital health literacy; Mixed methods; Online health information seeking; Students; Taibah University.

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Further reading

    1. Chao M., Xue D., Liu T., Yang H., Hall B. Media use and acute psychological outcomes during COVID-19 outbreak in China. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 2020;74 doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102248. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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