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. 2023 Feb;10(2):544-551.
doi: 10.1002/nop2.1320. Epub 2022 Aug 11.

A cross-sectional study of nursing students' eHealth literacy and COVID-19 preventive behaviours

Kyoung-A Kim  1 , Myung Sun Hyun  2 , Jennie C De Gagne  3 , Jeong-Ah Ahn  2
Affiliations

A cross-sectional study of nursing students' eHealth literacy and COVID-19 preventive behaviours

Kyoung-A Kim et al. Nurs Open. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

Aim: This study explored nursing students' eHealth literacy, lifestyle behaviours and COVID-19-related preventive behaviours and associated factors.

Design: A cross-sectional comparative correlational study.

Methods: Nursing students (n = 358) from a metropolitan area of South Korea were recruited for an online survey. The online questionnaire included: The eHealth Literacy Scale, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II and the COVID-19-related preventive behaviour scale.

Results: COVID-19-related preventive behaviours correlated positively with satisfaction with one's major, time spent seeking health information online, eHealth literacy and lifestyle behaviours. Significant factors affecting COVID-19-related preventive behaviours were the following: being female (β = 0.194, p < .001), time spent seeking health information online (β = 0.114, p = .002), eHealth literacy (β = 0.167, p = .001) and lifestyle behaviours (β = 0.266, p < .001).

Conclusions: Findings highlight the need to strengthen searching behaviours to access accurate health information online and reinforce eHealth literacy and health-promoting lifestyle behaviours to improve COVID-19 preventive behaviours among nursing students.

Keywords: COVID-19; eHealth literacy; health behaviour; nursing students.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing or conflicting interests.

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