Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy in Germany: A Cross-Sectional Study in Adults During the COVID-19 Infodemic

Okan, Orkan; Bollweg, Torsten Michael; Berens, Eva-Maria; Hurrelmann, Klaus; Bauer, Ullrich; Schaeffer, Doris

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3631299

Cited by 122 publications

(151 citation statements)

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“…However, in Germany, it has been shown that more than half of the population has limited health literacy; therefore, people report difficulties in dealing with health-related information [ 22 ]. A recent study conducted in Germany on health literacy in relation to information regarding COVID-19 resulted in similar findings [ 23 ]. People particularly have difficulty assessing the trustworthiness of media information on COVID-19 and its associated health problems.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Digital Health Literacy and Web-Based Information-Seeking Behaviors of University Students in Germany During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Survey Study

Dadaczynski¹,

Okan²,

Messer³

et al. 2021

J Med Internet Res

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229

192

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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.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Digital Health Literacy and Web-Based Information-Seeking Behaviors of University Students in Germany During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Survey Study

Dadaczynski¹,

Okan²,

Messer³

et al. 2021

J Med Internet Res

Self Cite

229

192

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“…The correlation between the respondent characteristics by gender, exposure to mass and nonmass media information to the level of health literacy of COVID-19 and behavior in new normal life shows as follows. The categorization of variable health literacy and behavior of new normal life using cut-point scores (<60) for the inadequate or low, (60-75) for the borderline or mediumlevel and (>75) for the adequate or high level 6,22 In this study, 254 participants aged 17-33 years were interviewed, 63.7% of participants were female, and 30.3% were male. In the classification of the health literacy rate of COVID-19, 64.9% of male had adequate literacy levels, and only 19.5% were adequate, while the female group Based on descriptive data, media exposure through mass media has a higher intensity in increasing health literacy to young adult.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In general, health literacy is a concept that describes the level of knowledge, motivation, analyzes and describes health information that is received for application in human life. 22 The inequity in health literacy levels can result in the process of changing behavior being hampered. 25 Efforts to increase health literacy and awareness to handling COVID-19 are urgently needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on this research result, more than some of the participants had a health literacy level for COVID-19 at the borderline level (20-29 years old) were 54.6% (P-value < 0.001), the level of acceptance of information quickly and effectively is accepted by youth groups 29 because they have a level of curiosity and a long memory. 30 The limitations that arise in this group were insensitive to analyzing and filtering the validity of information, 5,7,30 which can help people identify reliable sources of information and investigate which information might be misleading 22 thus making health literacy skills important for young people to have. The result showed that (64.2%) young adults received the information from health provider.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The COVID-19 health literacy variable identifies the knowledge level of respondents regarding spread and symptoms and specific prevention behavior 21 and how find and understand information about the corona virus 22 , the score of cut point adapted by Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults' Questionnaire (TFHLAQ) 6 . As for categorization in the variable health literacy and behavior of new normal life using cut-point scores (<60) for the inadequate or low, (60-75) for the borderline or medium-level and (>75) for the adequate or high level 6,22 The information media exposure variable identifies mass and non-mass media variations or information sources 7,13,23 . The indicators of new habitual adaptation behavior variable include 23 question items in an effort to prevent transmission (new normal life) COVID-19.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health Literacy, Media Exposure and Behavior Among Young Adults During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Ifroh

Asrianti

2020

JIKM

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Indonesia has published and released a new normal life, even though the COVID-19 rate continues to increase. The term of new normal life includes specific preventive behaviors as daily activity and supported skill by adequate health literacy of COVID-19. The purpose of this study was first to analyze the correlation of information media exposure to health literacy levels of COVID-19 and second to analyze the correlation between health literacy levels of COVID-19, exposure of information media to the adaptive behavior in COVID-19 prevention of young adult in East Kalimantan. The research design was a cross-sectional, quantitative study. The sampling technique used accidental sampling (254 young adults) data was taken by Google form. In data analysis to determine the correlation between gender to the level of health literacy of COVID-19 and new normal life used the Chi-square test. The analysis of age, exposure of mass and non-mass media to the level of health literacy of COVID-19 and, HL to new normal life behavior by using Spearman analysis test. The result statistics by gender (p=0.748), age (p=0.323), and health literacy level of COVID-19 (p=0.788) were not associated with the behavior of transmission of COVID-19 and prevention in new normal life. The variable of information exposure (by non-mass media and mass media) has a significant value associated with the variable of the behavior of new normal life (p-value <0.001). The higher exposure of information media through mass and non-mass media have a correlation to increasing the health literacy level of COVID-19 and behavior to prevent the disease.

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Health literacy and fear among Iranian medical students due to COVID‐19: An observational study

et al. 2022

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Introduction The coronavirus disease of the 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has created a sense of fear due to uncertainties in medical students’ personal and professional lives. Medical education is challenging and poses a more significant academic and emotional rigor when compared with other professional programs. With the COVID‐19 having limited treatment options, health literacy (HL) is crucial for managing and responding to the pandemic. This research aims to examine the impact of HL on COVID‐19‐associated fear among Iranian medical students. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted measuring the HL and fear of COVID‐19 using validated scales. Two hundred and seventy‐eight survey responses were received and analyzed descriptively by using SPSS software inferential statistics. Results Mean age of participants was 22.93 ± 5.427 years. The correlation between students’ total health literacy (HELIA) scores and their fear of COVID‐19 (FCV‐19S) scores was −0.279 (p value = .019). The FCV‐19S has a negative correlation with total HELIA in the group of females and males, single and married people, bachelor and MD students, and students living in rural areas and urban areas. The negative correlation of FCV‐19S with total HELIA in males and students who reside in rural areas was the only one that was not significant. In associate degree students, the correlation between FCV‐19S and total HELIA was positive but not significant. Education grades had a significant impact on FCV‐19S. Furthermore, the place of residence also had a significant impact on FCV‐19S. However, the gender and marital status did not significantly impact FCV‐19S. Conclusions The present study showed that students with higher HL scores had lesser fear of COVID‐19. The key stakeholders require several positive strategies to reduce fear and improve health, and such vital policies will assist in improving the students’ health and achieving the sustainable developmental goals.

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Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy in Germany: A Cross-Sectional Study in Adults During the COVID-19 Infodemic

Cited by 122 publications

References 0 publications

Digital Health Literacy and Web-Based Information-Seeking Behaviors of University Students in Germany During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Survey Study

Digital Health Literacy and Web-Based Information-Seeking Behaviors of University Students in Germany During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Survey Study

Health Literacy, Media Exposure and Behavior Among Young Adults During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Health literacy and fear among Iranian medical students due to COVID‐19: An observational study

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