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Cited by 103Health Literacy and Information AccessibilityE-Learning and COVID-19Library Science and Information Literacy

Associations between COVID-19-Related Digital Health Literacy and Online Information-Seeking Behavior among Portuguese University Students.

Open access
Rosário, Rafaela, Martins, Maria R. O., Augusto, Cláudia, Silva, Maria José, Martins, Silvana, Duarte, Ana, Fronteira, Inês, Ramos, Neida +2 more·2020·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph17238987PMC PMC7730120
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Abstract

We aim to evaluate the associations between digital health literacy (DHL) related to COVID-19 and online information-seeking behavior among university students. Methods: A total of 3.084 students (75.7% women), with an average age of 24.2 (SD = 7.5) participated in this cross-sectional study, most of whom (36.5%) were from social sciences and pursued a bachelor’s degree (50.7%). Data on COVID-19-related DHL and online information-seeking behavior were collected using an online questionnaire. Logistic regression models were performed. Results: As the pandemic progressed, participants showed a lower chance of achieving a sufficient DHL (OR = 0.7; 95% CI = 0.6; 0.9). Using search engines more often (e.g., Google) (OR = 0.7; 95% CI = 0.5; 0.9), Wikipedia (OR = 0.7; 95% CI = 0.6; 0.9) and social media (e.g., Facebook) (OR = 0.7; 95% CI = 0.6; 0.9) decreased the likelihood of achieving sufficient DHL related to COVID-19. More frequent use of websites of public bodies (OR = 1.7; 95% CI = 1.1; 2.5) increased the odds of reporting sufficient DHL. Conclusion: DHL is associated with university students’ online information-seeking behavior in the time of COVID-19. From a community and public health perspective, programs aiming at improving DHL should be highlighted.

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  • Portuguese students with sufficient DHL skills in reliability and validity assessment were more likely to search public institution websites and health portals (Rosário et al., 2020).

    “Similar findings were reported by Rosário et al. (2020) were Portuguese students with sufficient DHL skills in the area of reliability and validity assessment were more likely to search on public institution websites and health portals [40].”

    From Digital health literacy, online information-seeking behaviour, and satisfaction of Covid-19 information among the university students of East and South-East Asia (2022) · cites this paper as [40]

    The Discussion reports that Portuguese students who searched public institution websites and health portals more often were more likely to have sufficient DHL for assessing information reliability. The Methods identify “evaluating reliability” and “determining relevance” as DHL dimensions, but not validity assessment; that part of the claim is unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The DHL levels of university students in Portugal were above the third quartile of the scale.

    “findings from the Portuguese survey of the COVID-HL Network found that the DHL levels of university students in Portugal were above the third quartile of the scale [40].”

    From Digital health literacy, online information-seeking behaviour, and satisfaction of Covid-19 information among the university students of East and South-East Asia (2022) · cites this paper as [40]

    The Discussion (page not provided) says Portuguese university students tended to score mostly in the third and fourth quartiles of the DHL response range. That supports generally high scores, but not the more specific claim that their levels were above the third quartile. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Rosário, R., Martins, M. R. O., Augusto, C., Silva, M. J., Martins, S., Duarte, A., Fronteira, I., Ramos, N., Okan, O., & Dadaczynski, K.
Affiliations
  • School of Nursing, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
  • Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, NOVA University of Lisbon, 1349-008 Lisboa, Portugal
  • Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra (PT)
  • University of Minho (PT)
  • University of Lisbon (PT)
  • Bielefeld University (DE)
  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg (DE)
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-12-02
Volume
17
Issue
23
Pages
8987
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph17238987
PMC
PMC7730120
OpenAlex
W3107442636
Cited by
103
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 13
FWCI
17.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Multilingual Matters (Channel View Publications) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • PUB – Publications at Bielefeld University (Bielefeld University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
  • Social Sciences › Education › E-Learning and COVID-19
  • Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Information Literacy
Keywords
digital health literacy, COVID-19 pandemic, university students, search engines, Wikipedia, social media, government websites, health information sources, Portuguese students
MeSH terms
COVID-19, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Portugal, Students, Universities, Reproducibility of Results, Health Behavior, Young Adult, Health Literacy, Information Seeking Behavior, Pandemics

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