Electronic Health (e-health) Literacy among Undergraduate University Students

Authors

Kalsoom Akhtar, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Institute of Business Management and Administrative sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, PakistanFollow
Shazia Yusuf Dr, Department of Professional Psychology, Bahria University Islamabad.Follow
Samar Fahd Dr, Department of Applied psychology, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Imran Ajmal, PhD scholar, Department of Applied psychology, the Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Date of this Version

2022

Abstract

E-health literacy refers to the knowledge of electronic resources and searching techniques that are required to obtain credible health information. E-health literacy can help the general population to search, acquire, appraise, use and interpret health-related information from electronic sources, as well as to be able to apply the gained information to address and solve health-related problems.

A large scale cross-sectional survey was conducted to appraise the e-health literacy skills among undergraduate psychology students. The population of the study comprised of undergraduate psychology students enrolled in the public sector universities. A questionnaire was developed by conducting a thorough review of the relevant literature on e-health literacy and assessing the electronic health information seeking behaviour in the participating universities. The collected data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-23) and presented in descriptive and inferential statistics.

The findings of the study concluded that majority of the respondents had moderate level of e-health literacy skills. The study recommended that the information professionals in the participating universities should play their effective role in promoting the e-health literacy among undergraduate psychology students through offering a structured program, having 02 credit hours, on e-health literacy skills.