Investigation of the relationship of general and digital health literacy with various health-related outcomes

Profiles of digital health literacy among university students and its association with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A latent profile analysis

Objective

Investigating the digital health literacy of university students can facilitate their effective acquisition of health information and adoption of appropriate protective behaviors. This study aims to explore the subtypes of digital health literacy among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with mental health outcomes.

Methods

From 17 November to 14 December 2022, a stratified random sampling approach was used to conduct an online questionnaire survey on digital health literacy, fear of COVID-19, and depression status among students at Jilin University, China. A total of 1060 valid responses were obtained in the survey. Latent profile analysis identified subtypes of digital health literacy and linear regression analyses were used to examine the association of digital health literacy to the mental health outcome.

Results

Three latent profiles were identified: Profile 1-low digital health literacy (n = 66, 6.23%), Profile 2-moderate digital health literacy (n = 706, 66.60%), and Profile 3-high digital health literacy (n = 288, 27.17%). Results from linear regression demonstrated a negative correlation between digital health literacy and fear of COVID-19 (B = -2.954, P < 0.001) as well as depression (B = -2.619, P < 0.001) among university students.

Conclusions

This study indicated that the majority of university students exhibit a moderate level of digital health literacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the study validates a negative correlation between digital health literacy and mental health among university students.

Research into the relationship between digital health literacy and healthy lifestyle behaviors: an intergenerational comparison

Introduction

Digital health literacy wields a pivotal role in individuals' health status in terms of seeking and choosing appropriate and accurate information, and useful services from a vast array of choices. This study is aimed at assessing the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI) and examining the relationship between DHL and the healthy lifestyle behaviors of participants from X, Y, and Z generations.

Methods

In this study, to conduct a cross-sectional web-based survey, an online self-report questionnaire was built, and a convenience sample with a snowball approach was used. The study was conducted among 1,274 respondents aged between 18 and 64 years. Data collection tools consisted of the Personal Information Form, Lifestyle Behavior Scale II (HLBS II), and DHLI. Cultural validation and psychometric testing of DHLI, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha test, and bivariate and multivariate regression analysis were used for statistical analysis.

Results

In the study, the Turkish version of the DHLI tool consisting of six dimensions proved to be valid and reliable, and deemed appropriate for use across all age groups. The average digital health literacy of the respondents was sufficient, but the mean of healthy lifestyle behavior scores was moderate. There was a positive significant relationship between the total mean scores of DHLI and HLBS. Among the subdimensions of DHLI, while the highest mean scores were in DHLI Reliability, DHLI Privacy, and DHLI Search, DHLI Navigation and DHLI Relevance showed the lowest mean scores. DHLI Reliability, DHLI Relevance, and DHLI Adding Content were statistically significant predictors of health-related behaviors of the respondents.

Conclusion

The most important feature and novelty of this study is that, although the DHLI scale has been widely translated for use in many countries, it has been translated and adapted to Turkish for the first time herein. The study offers crucial evidence about Generation X, Y, and Z's DHL level and its positive relationships with health-related behaviors. Therefore, the community and its partners should lead the way in empowering individuals to understand and use online information in an effective, secure, and health-promoting manner, along with governments.