Digital Health Usage and Awareness among MedicalStudents: A Survey Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In the era of increasingly expanding digital ecosystem, health misinformation became highly risky, especially the information sources which are non-evidence based. This problem is magnified due to the vulnerability of most internet users, especially the adolescents information seekers who lack health literacy. AIM: The aim of this study is to explore the pattern of digital health usage among medical university students and their level of awareness towards choosing online health information (OHI). METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 480 medical students from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd academic years, at the Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, between October 2019 and October 2020. Students took an online structured questionnaire on google forms. RESULTS: Mobile smartphones were the most widely used technological devices by participants. Almost all participants used Internet daily 98.8%, with the highest preference to social media 72.5% and text messaging 74.8%. Seeking health information was a common practice for personal health-related purpose of using Internet 87.1%, despite the lack in checking the reliability of messages and quality of provider. Knowledge about advantages and disadvantages of digital tools was also deficient among participant medical students. CONCLUSION: Despite the high technology adoption among the university medical students, they lack the needed knowledge and skills for proper search, choosing, and evaluation of OHI.

Preparing for the future of healthcare: Digital health literacy among medical students in Lahore, Pakistan

“…This discovery is hardly surprising given the swift rise in mobile phone ownership and usage worldwide, including in Pakistan. 20 …”

“…This discovery is hardly surprising given the swift rise in mobile phone ownership and usage worldwide, including in Pakistan. 20 The internet is rapidly becoming the primary source of students seeking health information. 21,22 Like previous studies of medical students, study results also indicated searching for information related to health and illness as the most frequent purpose of internet use (91%).…”

“…21,22 Like previous studies of medical students, study results also indicated searching for information related to health and illness as the most frequent purpose of internet use (91%). 20 Students medical background can be a contributing factor to the wide gap with only 33%-63% of general internet users using internet for seeking health information. 21,22 Medical students have stronger digital health literacy on average than members of the general public and university students.…”

Leveraging the Ability of the Online Health Information Seekers to Find Credible Online Sources

“…Medical students use internet regularly, with a propensity for mobile devices, social networking, and text messaging. Although health information seeking is one of their primary purposes [7], yet they usually do not depend on quality criteria when choosing online health information sources. The choice of some users can sometimes be based on the design and the quality of pictures [8].…”