e-Health information literacy of health science university students: actual situation and Improvement strategies

Abstract

The present study aimed to measure the e-health information competencies for health science students in finding, evaluating and judging e-health information. Adapted measurement tools were used to assess the e-health information literacy. A total of 151 students accepted to participate. Few students (25) were able to locate the appropriate information using the necessary keywords and commands. Only 33.1% of the participants could distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly sources of information. A very weak correlation was registered between the actual and the self-evaluation skill levels. Students intended to improve many health information search skills such as library database through different methods.

Keywords:

• e-Health information literacy
• health science students
• improvement strategy
• Saudi Arabia

Acknowledgments

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deputyship for Research & Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia for funding this research work through the project number 7938. They also gratefully acknowledge the contribution of all the respondents who voluntarily participated in this study.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data Availability Statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Ethics Statement

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Saudi Electronic University (SEUREC-CHS21126).

Additional information

Funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deputyship for Research & Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia for funding this research work through the Project Number 7938.