Background Digital communication technologies are playing an important role in the health communication strategies of governments and public health authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The internet and social media have become important sources of health-related information on COVID-19 and on protective behaviors. In addition, the COVID-19 infodemic is spreading faster than the coronavirus itself, which interferes with governmental health-related communication efforts. This jeopardizes national public health containment strategies. Therefore, digital health literacy is a key competence to navigate web-based COVID-19–related information and service environments. Objective This study aimed to investigate university students’ digital health literacy and web-based information-seeking behaviors during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Methods A cross-sectional study among 14,916 university students aged ≥18 years from 130 universities across all 16 federal states of Germany was conducted using a web-based survey. Along with sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, subjective social status), the measures included five subscales from the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI), which was adapted to the specific context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Web-based information-seeking behavior was investigated by examining the web-based sources used by university students and the topics that the students searched for in connection with COVID-19. Data were analyzed using univariate and bivariate analyses. Results Across digital health literacy dimensions, the greatest difficulties could be found for assessing the reliability of health-related information (5964/14,103, 42.3%) and the ability to determine whether the information was written with a commercial interest (5489/14,097, 38.9%). Moreover, the respondents indicated that they most frequently have problems finding the information they are looking for (4282/14,098, 30.4%). When stratified according to sociodemographic characteristics, significant differences were found, with female university students reporting a lower DHLI for the dimensions of “information searching” and “evaluating reliability.” Search engines, news portals, and websites of public bodies were most often used by the respondents as sources to search for information on COVID-19 and related issues. Female students were found to use social media and health portals more frequently, while male students used Wikipedia and other web-based encyclopedias as well as YouTube more often. The use of social media was associated with a low ability to critically evaluate information, while the opposite was observed for the use of public websites. Conclusions Although digital health literacy is well developed in university students, a significant proportion of students still face difficulties with certain abilities to evaluate information. There is a need to strengthen the digital health literacy capacities of university students using tailored interventions. Improving the quality of health-related information on the internet is also key.

BackgroundAlthough much research has been done investigating the roles of social network sites (SNSs) in linking patients and health professionals, there is a lack of information about their uses, benefits, and limitations in connecting health professions only for professional communication.ObjectiveThis review aimed to examine the utilization of SNSs for communication among health professionals in (1) frontline clinical practice, (2) professional networks, and (3) education and training to identify areas for future health communication research.MethodsThis review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines. A systematic search of the literature published in the last 10 years (January 1, 2007, to March 1, 2017) was performed in March 2017, using the following electronic databases: MEDLINE via OvidSP, EMBASE, CINAHL Complete, and InfoSci-Journals. The searches were conducted using the following defined search terms: “social media” OR “social network” OR “social network site” OR “Facebook” OR “Twitter” OR “Linkedin” OR “Instagram” OR “Weibo” OR “Whatsapp” OR “Telegram” OR “WeChat” AND “health” OR “health profession.”ResultsOf the 6977 papers retrieved, a total of 33 studies were included in this review. They were exploratory in nature, and the majority used surveys (n=25) and interviews (n=6). All retrieved studies stated that SNSs enhanced effective communication and information sharing. SNSs were used for supporting delivering of clinical services, making referrals, and sharing information. They were beneficial to network building and professional collaboration. SNSs were novel tools to enhance educational interactions among peers, students, instructors, and preceptors. The application of SNSs came with restraints in technical knowledge, concerns on data protection, privacy and liability, issues in professionalism, and data protection.ConclusionsSNSs provide platforms facilitating efficient communication, interactions, and connections among health professionals in frontline clinical practice, professional networks, education, and training with limitations identified as technical knowledge, professionalism, and risks of data protection. The evolving use of SNSs necessitates robust research to explore the full potential and the relative effectiveness of SNSs in professional communication.

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The PSQ-C is a reliable and useful tool to assess pain sensitivity levels in a Chinese population.

BACKGROUND Digital communication technologies play an important role in the health communication strategy of governments and public health authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The internet and social media have become important sources of health information on coronavirus and protective behaviours. In addition, the COVID-19 infodemic spreads faster than the coronavirus itself and interferes with governmental health communication efforts. This puts national public health containment strategies in jeopardy, which is why digital health literacy is a key competence to navigate coronavirus related health information and service environments. OBJECTIVE We aimed to investigate the digital health literacy and online information seeking behaviour during the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic among university students. METHODS A cross-sectional study among N=14.916 university students aged ≥18 years from 130 universities across all sixteen federal states of Germany was conducted using an online survey. Next to sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, subjective social status) measures included five subscales from the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI), which has been adapted to the specific coronavirus context. Online information seeking behaviour was investigated by examining the online sources used and the topics that students search for in connection with the coronavirus. Data were analysed using univariate and bivariate analysis. RESULTS Across digital health literacy dimensions, the greatest difficulties could be found for assessing the reliability of health-related information (42.3%) and the ability to determine whether the information is written with commercial interest (38.9%). Moreover, respondents also indicated that they most frequently have problems finding the information they are looking for (30.4%). Stratified by sociodemographic characteristics, significant differences were found to the disadvantage of female university students for the dimensions ‘information searching’ and ‘evaluating reliability’. Search engines, news portals and websites of public bodies were most often used by the respondents as source to search for information on COVID-19 and related issues. Female students were found to use social media and health portals more frequently, while male students use Wikipedia and other online encyclopaedias and YouTube more often. The use of social media was associated with a low ability to critically evaluate information, while opposite differences were observed for the use of public websites. CONCLUSIONS Although digital health literacy is, in summary, well developed, there is still a significant proportion of university students that face difficulties with certain abilities to deal with information. There is need to strengthen the digital health literacy capacities of university students using tailored interventions but also to improve the quality of health information in the internet.