E-health literacy among university students amid a global pandemic

Background

Global pandemics amplified the need for eHealth literacy as young adults increasingly sought online health information. A recent study showed that the infodemic surrounding COVID-19 highlighted the importance of e-health literacy in health-related decisions. Another study highlighted the vital role of modern technologies on patients care. E-health literacy is “the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic sources and apply the knowledge gained to addressing or solving a health problem”. It has numerous determinants, like the presenting health problem, level of education, and the technologies used. In our study we aim to explore the level of e-health literacy among young population, and identify influencing factors in the local context.

Methods

We used validated English and Arabic online questionnaires for students attending Qatar University. The score ranged between 8 - 40. E-Health literacy scores of ≥26 is considered to be high, while eHealth literacy scores of <26 are considered to be low. To analyse the data we used descriptive statistics, bivariant analysis. Statistical significance was set at a level of p ≤0.05 (Two-tailed).

Results

Data was collected from 89 students. The non-response rate was over 71%. The participants’ mean age was 25±7 years old. Almost 42% were Qatari and more than half of them (68.5%) were females. Students mostly had high levels of health literacy (63%) (Table 1). There was no significant association between individual characteristics and levels of ehealth literacy including; area of study, hours of daily use of internet, and medical history.

Conclusion

The findings suggests that students hold high levels of e-Health literacy. During pandemics, improving e-Health literacy among young adults is a multidimensional challenge that involves collaboration among stakeholders. Lastly, this study was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have led to significant impact on the response rate.