Effect of e-Health Literacy on COVID-19 Infection-Preventive Behaviors of Undergraduate Students Majoring in Healthcare

Abstract

This study examined and verified the level of e-health literacy (e-HL) and infection preventive behaviors related to COVID-19 among undergraduate students majoring in healthcare. An online survey was conducted with 274 university students majoring in nursing, clinical pathology, and occupational therapy in South Korea. The e-HL consisted of functional, communicational, and critical literacy, and preventive behaviors were based on the Prevention Guideline on Droplet Infection. The mean score for e-HL was 3.62, with nursing students obtaining the highest scores. The overall e-HL score and the scores on its three sub-dimensions were related to infection-preventive behaviors. Moreover, e-HL affected infection-preventive behaviors (p < 0.001). Findings from this study highlight the necessity of education for improving the e-HL of undergraduate students majoring in healthcare to strengthen infection-preventive behaviors and protect patients from infectious diseases.

The Role of Health Literacy in COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors and Infection Risk Perception: Evidence from a Population-Based Sample of Essential Frontline Workers during the Lockdown in the Province of Prato (Tuscany, Italy)

“…A study by Li and Liu [ 15 ] found that the level at which the public engages in preventive measures during the pandemic is widely influenced by the level of HL. Similarly, Hong et al [ 16 ] found that HL was significantly related to infection preventive behaviors in a sample of undergraduate students majoring in healthcare. At the individual and community levels, HL can play a relevant role in influencing the effectiveness of infection control measures promoted during the COVID-19 pandemic as these measures mostly rely on the ability of individuals to understand and adopt the correct preventive behaviors and to respect the rapidly evolving public health measures [ 17 ].…”

A Framework of AI-Based Approaches to Improving eHealth Literacy and Combating Infodemic

“…For instances, Hong et al ( 43 ) examined the level of eHealth literacy and infection preventive behaviors related to COVID-19 among undergraduate students majoring in healthcare, and they reported that the overall eHealth literacy measures were related to infection-preventive behaviors. The findings in Hong et al ( 43 ) highlighted the necessity of education for improving the eHealth literacy of undergraduate students majoring in healthcare to strengthen infection-preventive behaviors and protect patients from infectious diseases.…”

“…For instances, Hong et al ( 43 ) examined the level of eHealth literacy and infection preventive behaviors related to COVID-19 among undergraduate students majoring in healthcare, and they reported that the overall eHealth literacy measures were related to infection-preventive behaviors. The findings in Hong et al ( 43 ) highlighted the necessity of education for improving the eHealth literacy of undergraduate students majoring in healthcare to strengthen infection-preventive behaviors and protect patients from infectious diseases. Dib et al ( 44 ) discussed online false information about COVID-19 vaccine and the vaccine hesitancy, and they advocated that eHealth literacy should be viewed as fundamental skills that have the potential to empower citizens to better recognize online mis/disinformation and make informed health decisions, such as whether to take COVID-19 vaccination or not.…”

Measuring COVID-19 Related Health Literacy in Healthcare Professionals—Psychometric Evaluation of the HL-COV-HP Instrument

“…A higher level of health literacy, especially e-health literacy, is associated with COVID-19 awareness [8], positive attitudes towards preventive strategies against COVID-19 [9][10][11][12][13][14], and a higher adherence to prevention guidelines [8,15]. Health literacy is positively associated with COVID-19 vaccination acceptance [16] and can mitigate the negative effects of healthcare system distrust on vaccination willingness [17,18].…”

“…While there is a growing body of research on aspects of COVID-19 related health literacy of the general population [4,15,16,22] or specific populations, e.g., migrants, children, students, or patients [8][9][10][11]13,[19][20][21]23], little is known about the COVID-19 related health literacy of healthcare professionals, such as physicians, nurses, or psychologists. Since 2020, many studies have investigated the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of healthcare professionals worldwide [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34].…”