During the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing interest in online information about coronavirus worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the digital health literacy (DHL) level, information-seeking behaviour, and satisfaction of information on COVID-19 among East and South-East Asia university students. This cross-sectional web-based study was conducted between April to June 2020 by recruiting students from universities in China, Malaysia, and the Philippines. University students who have Internet access were invited to participate in the study. Items on sociodemographic variables, DHL, information-seeking behaviour, and information satisfaction were included in the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were conducted. A total of 5302 university students responded to the survey. The overall mean score across the four DHL subscales was 2.89 (SD: 0.42). Search engines (e.g., Google, Bing, Yahoo) (92.0%) and social media (88.4%) were highly utilized by the students, whereas Websites of doctors or health insurance companies were of lower utilization (64.7%). Across the domains (i.e., adding self-generated content, determining relevance, evaluating reliability, and protecting privacy) higher DHL was positively associated with higher usage of trustworthy resources. Providing online information on COVID-19 at official university websites and conducting health talks or web-based information dissemination about the strategies for mental health challenges during pandemic could be beneficial to the students. Strengthening DHL among university students will enhance their critical thinking and evaluation of online resources, which could direct them to the quality and trustworthy information sources on COVID-19.

PurposeA deluge of fake news and misinformation about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) on the Internet poses challenges for the public in their search for reliable and relevant health information for taking protective measures, especially among people with chronic diseases (PWCD). This study aimed to (a) understand the satisfaction level of the online information related to COVID‐19 in people with and without chronic diseases; (b) explore information‐searching behavior and digital health literacy in PWCD; and (3) identify the possible predictors of information satisfaction among PWCD.MethodsThis was a multicity, cross‐sectional study using an online survey with a convenience sample of people who (a) were 15 years of age or older and (b) had access to the Internet in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.FindingsFour thousand four hundred and seventy‐two subjects completed the survey, of whom less than 50% felt satisfied with the online information. About 20% of respondents (n = 882) were diagnosed with at least one chronic disease and reported a lower level of information satisfaction (p = .003) than the people without chronic diseases. The majority of the PWCD obtained their online health information from social media. Higher digital health literacy (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 5.07), higher frequency of searches regarding symptoms of COVID‐19 (adjusted OR = 2.07), higher perceived importance of quickly learning from the information searched (adjusted OR = 1.63), and lower frequency of searches on the topic of dealing with psychological stress (adjusted OR = 0.54) were found to be predictors of information satisfaction among PWCD.ConclusionsThe majority of PWCD sought online information related to COVID‐19 from social media, and their level of information satisfaction was significantly lower than among people without chronic diseases. Digital health literacy is a strong and significant predictor of information satisfaction.Clinical RelevanceTo support PWCD, we not only have to provide them with clear and accurate information, but also promote their digital health literacy so that they may seek, understand, and appraise health information from the Internet to make appropriate health‐related judgments and decisions.

The current study examined the moderating role of socioeconomic status (SES) in the association between digital health literacy (DHL) and psychological well-being of 801 university students in Hong Kong and Macao amid the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Results showed that DHL and SES were positively associated with psychological well-being. Surprisingly, SES negatively modified the relationship between DHL and psychological well-being. We argue that while attempts are being made to improve the well-being through DHL among students and others alike, a one-size-fits-all approach would not suffice because of diversity in students’ socioeconomic backgrounds.

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