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Cited by 49Health Literacy and Information AccessibilityCommunication and COVID-19 ImpactE-Learning and COVID-19

Differences in digital health literacy and future anxiety between health care and other university students in England during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Frings, Daniel, Sykes, Susie, Ojo, Adeola, Rowlands, Gillian, Trasolini, Andrew, Dadaczynski, Kevin, Okan, Orkan, Wills, Jane·2022·BMC Public Health
DOI 10.1186/s12889-022-13087-yPMC PMC8982905
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Abstract

Background: This study investigates university students’ digital health literacy and web-based information-seeking behaviours during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. It compares undergraduate and postgraduate students in non-health related subjects with health care students, many of whom were preparing for, or working in, frontline roles. The survey was conducted as part of a wider study by the COVID-HL research consortium. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among n = 691 university students aged ≥18 years from 25 universities across England using an adapted digital survey developed by COVID-HL. Data were collected regarding sociodemographic characteristics and specific measures drawn from the Future Anxiety Scale and the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI). These had been adapted for use in an English setting and to the specific context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other data collected included students’ anxiety or worries about the future using the Dark Future Scale as well as behaviours in online information-seeking. Data were analysed using correlations to test for relationships between constructs and also between group comparisons to test for differences between students studying health and non-health related subjects. Results: Across digital health literacy dimensions, there was no significant difference between students studying health-related subjects and other students. Health care students did report greater difficulties in relation to how to behave online. They also relied less on public body sources for information about the pandemic. A significant difference was found between the two student populations in relation to their anxiety about the future with health care students reporting fewer fears about the future. Conclusions: Although digital health literacy is well developed in university students, a significant proportion of students still face difficulties with evaluating online information which may frustrate public health efforts. This could be addressed by ensuring health students’ curriculum in particular encompasses digital health literacy.

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  • Participants majoring in health-related fields were excluded because pursuing health-related careers would affect health literacy and health information-seeking behaviors.

    “The screening questions were designed to include only undergraduate students and to exclude those majoring in health-related fields, such as medicine, nursing, and social work, given that pursuing health-related careers would affect health literacy and health information-seeking behaviors (Frings et al., 2022; Zhao et al., 2024).”

    From Digital health literacy and trust in health information sources: A comparative study of university students in Japan, the United States, and India (2025) · cites this paper as Frings et al., 2022

    The Discussion reports that health students differed from non-health students in where they sought health information. But the study found no higher digital health literacy among health students; it describes higher health literacy as an expectation or a finding from other studies, not an effect established by its own results. The decision to exclude health-related majors belongs to the citing study, not Frings et al. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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  • Previous studies during the COVID-19 pandemic reported that a significant proportion of university students faced difficulties with assessing the reliability of online health-related information.

    “However, previous studies during the COVID-19 pandemic reported that a significant proportion of university students faced difficulties with assessing the reliability of online health-related information (Dadaczynski et al., 2021; Frings et al., 2022).”

    From Digital health literacy and trust in health information sources: A comparative study of university students in Japan, the United States, and India (2025) · cites this paper as Frings et al., 2022

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Cited by

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Authors
Frings, D., Sykes, S., Ojo, A., Rowlands, G., Trasolini, A., Dadaczynski, K., Okan, O., & Wills, J.
Affiliations
  • London South Bank University (GB)
  • Newcastle University (GB)
  • Fulda University of Applied Sciences (DE)
  • Technical University of Munich (DE)
Corresponding author
Frings, Daniel
ORCID
Venue
BMC Public Health
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2022-04-05
Volume
22
Issue
1
Pages
658-658
ISSN
1471-2458 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12889-022-13087-y
PMC
PMC8982905
OpenAlex
W4223609030
Cited by
49
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 6
FWCI
11.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Open (London South Bank University) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion)
  • mediaTUM (Technical University of Munich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
  • Social Sciences › Education › E-Learning and COVID-19
Keywords
digital health literacy, COVID-19 pandemic, university students, health professions students, future anxiety, online information seeking, health information sources, health education curriculum, undergraduate and graduate students
MeSH terms
COVID-19, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Cross-Sectional Studies, Delivery of Health Care, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires, Students, Universities, Reproducibility of Results, Health Literacy, Pandemics

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