Medical Directorate of San Daniele Hospital, Friuli Centrale University Healthcare Trust, Udine, Italy.
Department of Medicine, University of Udine, Italy.
Ann Ig. 2023 May-Jun;35(3):257-268. doi: 10.7416/ai.2022.2542. Epub 2022 Sep 29.
The fight against fake news, mainly spread through Internet, is a major public health issue, even among undergraduate students. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a website promoted by the Italian Federation of the Provincial Orders of the Medical Doctors as a first aid communication kit for health topics.
Pre-post study using a web-based survey, conducted in April-May 2019 on Medical students and October-November 2020 on Communication Sciences students at the University of Florence (Italy). Methods. Undergraduate students of both schools were exposed to the use of the "dottoremaeveroche" website. Primary and secondary outcomes measures: the Italian-electronic Health Literacy Scale self-assessment tool was used to examine subjects' electronic Health literacy, and source quality. All responses were rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Changing in perception of abilities were examined using the Wilcoxon test.
The 362 participants felt moderately confident in electronic Health Literacy, with an initial Italian-electronic Health Literacy Scale overall mean score of 3.6±0.7 for medical and 3.2±0.8 for communication students. Medical students had a good idea of how to find helpful sources (3.9±0.8) and communication students felt confident in recognizing their quality (3.5±1.0). In contrast, their confidence in using Web information to make health decisions was low (medical: 2.9±1.1; communication: 2.8±1.1). All items improved significantly after "dottoremaeveroche" use (p<.001), with the overall mean score of Italian-electronic Health Literacy Scale increasing to 4.3±0.6 for medical and 4.1±0.8 for communication students.
Low electronic health literacy levels can affect public health efforts, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effectiveness of "dottoremaeveroche" among students showed the usefulness of online educational interventions that, if further implemented, could help combat the spread of infodemic.
打击主要通过互联网传播的假新闻是一个重大的公共卫生问题，甚至在本科生中也是如此。本研究旨在评估意大利省级医师协会推广的一个网站作为卫生主题急救通讯工具的效果。
这是一项使用基于网络的调查进行的前后研究，于 2019 年 4 月至 5 月在佛罗伦萨大学（意大利）的医学生中进行，2020 年 10 月至 11 月在传播科学专业学生中进行。方法：两所学校的本科生都接触了“dottoremaeveroche”网站。主要和次要结局指标：使用意大利电子健康素养量表自我评估工具来检查受试者的电子健康素养和来源质量。所有回答都在 5 点李克特量表上进行评分。使用 Wilcoxon 检验检查感知能力的变化。
362 名参与者对电子健康素养有中等程度的信心，医学生的意大利电子健康素养量表总平均分初始为 3.6±0.7，传播学生为 3.2±0.8。医学生对如何找到有用的来源有很好的认识（3.9±0.8），而传播学生对识别其质量有信心（3.5±1.0）。相比之下，他们对使用网络信息做出健康决策的信心较低（医学：2.9±1.1；传播：2.8±1.1）。使用“dottoremaeveroche”后，所有项目均显著改善（p<.001），医学生的意大利电子健康素养量表总平均分提高到 4.3±0.6，传播学生提高到 4.1±0.8。
电子健康素养水平低可能会影响公共卫生工作，如在 COVID-19 大流行期间所见。“dottoremaeveroche”在学生中的有效性表明，在线教育干预措施是有用的，如果进一步实施，可能有助于打击信息疫情的传播。
