School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, 101 London Road, London, SE1 0AA, UK.
Institute of Health and Social Care, London South Bank University, 101 London Road, London, SE1 0AA, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2022 Apr 5;22(1):658. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13087-y.
This study investigates university students' digital health literacy and web-based information-seeking behaviours during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. It compares undergraduate and postgraduate students in non-health related subjects with health care students, many of whom were preparing for, or working in, frontline roles. The survey was conducted as part of a wider study by the COVID-HL research consortium.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among n = 691 university students aged ≥18 years from 25 universities across England using an adapted digital survey developed by COVID-HL. Data were collected regarding sociodemographic characteristics and specific measures drawn from the Future Anxiety Scale and the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI). These had been adapted for use in an English setting and to the specific context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other data collected included students' anxiety or worries about the future using the Dark Future Scale as well as behaviours in online information-seeking. Data were analysed using correlations to test for relationships between constructs and also between group comparisons to test for differences between students studying health and non-health related subjects.
Across digital health literacy dimensions, there was no significant difference between students studying health-related subjects and other students. Health care students did report greater difficulties in relation to how to behave online. They also relied less on public body sources for information about the pandemic. A significant difference was found between the two student populations in relation to their anxiety about the future with health care students reporting fewer fears about the future.
Although digital health literacy is well developed in university students, a significant proportion of students still face difficulties with evaluating online information which may frustrate public health efforts. This could be addressed by ensuring health students' curriculum in particular encompasses digital health literacy.
本研究调查了英格兰 COVID-19 大流行早期大学生的数字健康素养和基于网络的信息搜索行为。研究比较了非健康相关学科的本科生和研究生与医疗保健学生，其中许多人正在准备或从事一线工作。该调查是 COVID-HL 研究联盟更广泛研究的一部分。
在英格兰 25 所大学的 n = 691 名年龄≥18 岁的大学生中进行了横断面研究，使用 COVID-HL 开发的经过改编的数字调查。收集了社会人口统计学特征以及来自未来焦虑量表和数字健康素养量表（DHLI）的特定措施的数据。这些措施已针对英国的情况和 COVID-19 大流行的具体情况进行了调整。收集的其他数据包括学生使用黑暗未来量表对未来的焦虑或担忧，以及在线信息搜索行为。使用相关性分析数据，以检验结构之间的关系，还使用组间比较检验学习健康和非健康相关学科的学生之间的差异。
在数字健康素养维度上，学习健康相关学科的学生与其他学生之间没有显著差异。医疗保健专业的学生确实报告在如何在线行为方面存在更大的困难。他们也较少依赖公共机构获取有关大流行的信息。在对未来的焦虑方面，这两种学生群体之间存在显著差异，医疗保健专业的学生对未来的恐惧较少。
尽管大学生的数字健康素养已经很发达，但仍有相当一部分学生在评估在线信息方面仍存在困难，这可能会阻碍公共卫生工作。可以通过确保健康学生的课程特别涵盖数字健康素养来解决这个问题。
