Online oral health information seeking experience and knowledge, attitudes and practices of oral health among iranian medical students: an online survey

Abstract

Background The internet is increasingly used as a source of health information. This study aimed to explore the online oral health information seeking experience, to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of oral health, and to investigate the associations between online oral health information seeking experience and oral health KAP of participants. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted. Three hundred and ninety-five university students participated in the study. Required data were gathered using two valid questionnaires eHIQ (e-Health Information Questionnaire) and Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior Questionnaire. eHIQ was a 2-part instrument with 37 items. eHIQ-Part 1 includes 11 items related to general views of using the internet in relation to health. eHIQ-Part 2 includes 26 items related to the consequences of using specific health-related online sources. The second questionnaire includes 30 items as a combination of multiple-choice and yes/no type questions. The data were analyzed using the statistical analysis software SPSS version 20. Mean scores, standard deviation, and frequency distribution were obtained. Independent T-test, correlation coefficients and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used in the analysis. Results Participants had good KAP of oral health. The between-group differences tests showed that oral health knowledge and attitudes were significantly different between gender and years of study groups, but the differences of oral health practices were significant only based on years of study. Participants had moderate scores regarding all sub-scales of eHIQ-Parts 1 and 2. Findings revealed that online oral health information seeking behavior was associated with oral health KAP (p < 0.05). Conclusion According to the results the general views of using the internet in relation to health and the consequences of using specific health-related online sources were in a moderate level among the participants. Such results can emphasize the need for more planning, education and empowerment of the population`s health literacy. The present study also provides good insights for the latter and has practical and policy implications besides its research values.

Measuring Online Health Information Seeking Skills and its Related Factors in a Middle-Aged Population

“…This paper describes online health informationseeking skills (OHISS) and its related factors in middle-aged people. Our study revealed that participants had a level of average the online health information-seeking skills which is similar to the studies conducted in other countries such as China and the United States [22][23][24]. In the country of Ghana, few patients use online health information [25].…”

Attitude, awareness, and knowledge of telemedicine among medical students: A systematic review of cross‐sectional studies

“…Four studies used in‐person questionnaires, 14 , 16 , 17 , 20 while the other six distributed online questionnaires among participants. 15 , 18 , 19 , 21 , 22 , 23 …”

“… 14 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 22 , 23 However, in one study, participants revealed moderate attitudes toward online health information and online health experience sharing ( p < 0.05). 15 …”

The influence of sustainability knowledge and attitude on sustainable intention and behaviour of Malaysian and Indonesian undergraduate students

“…The researchers used an online survey platform (Google Forms) to publish the questionnaire and generate the answer link for the respondents and distributed using the snowballing technique (Chen et al, 2021). The online survey was widely shared through social media, specifically the WhatsApp application (Bastani et al, 2022) based on its wide usage among the students.…”