A cross‐sectional study of nursing students' eHealth literacy and COVID‐19 preventive behaviours

Aim This study explored nursing students' eHealth literacy, lifestyle behaviours and COVID‐19‐related preventive behaviours and associated factors. Design A cross‐sectional comparative correlational study. Methods Nursing students (n = 358) from a metropolitan area of South Korea were recruited for an online survey. The online questionnaire included: The eHealth Literacy Scale, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile‐II and the COVID‐19‐related preventive behaviour scale. Results COVID‐19‐related preventive behaviours correlated positively with satisfaction with one's major, time spent seeking health information online, eHealth literacy and lifestyle behaviours. Significant factors affecting COVID‐19‐related preventive behaviours were the following: being female (β = 0.194, p < .001), time spent seeking health information online (β = 0.114, p = .002), eHealth literacy (β = 0.167, p = .001) and lifestyle behaviours (β = 0.266, p < .001). Conclusions Findings highlight the need to strengthen searching behaviours to access accurate health information online and reinforce eHealth literacy and health‐promoting lifestyle behaviours to improve COVID‐19 preventive behaviours among nursing students.

A cross-sectional study of nursing students' eHealth literacy and COVID-19 preventive behaviours.

AIM: This study explored nursing students' eHealth literacy, lifestyle behaviours and COVID-19-related preventive behaviours and associated factors. DESIGN: A cross-sectional comparative correlational study. METHODS: Nursing students (n = 358) from a metropolitan area of South Korea were recruited for an online survey. The online questionnaire included: The eHealth Literacy Scale, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II and the COVID-19-related preventive behaviour scale. RESULTS: COVID-19-related preventive behaviours correlated positively with satisfaction with one's major, time spent seeking health information online, eHealth literacy and lifestyle behaviours. Significant factors affecting COVID-19-related preventive behaviours were the following: being female (ß = 0.194, p < .001), time spent seeking health information online (ß = 0.114, p = .002), eHealth literacy (ß = 0.167, p = .001) and lifestyle behaviours (ß = 0.266, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the need to strengthen searching behaviours to access accurate health information online and reinforce eHealth literacy and health-promoting lifestyle behaviours to improve COVID-19 preventive behaviours among nursing students.

Preventive Behavioral Insights for Emerging Adults: A Survey during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Emerging adulthood is an important period for establishing health behavior patterns in life. This study aimed to examine factors related to preventive behaviors of emerging adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive online survey design was used. Data were collected using a self-administrated, 28-item questionnaire completed by 239 undergraduate students from a university in Seoul, South Korea. The questionnaire was developed based on previous studies and the guidelines of the World Health Organization about COVID-19 preventive behaviors. The mean age of participants was 21.97 years, and the average score for COVID-19 preventive behaviors was 4.13 (SD: ±0.42) on a 5-point scale. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that subjective norms related to parents (ß = 0.425, p < 0.001), issue involvement related to COVID-19 (ß = 0.160, p = 0.024), and sex (ß = 0.137, p = 0.029) were significant factors related to preventive behaviors of emerging adults after controlling for demographic characteristics. The variables explained 20.1% of the variance in preventive behaviors. The results of this study suggest that better strategies for subjective norms related to parents and issue involvement related to COVID-19 must be considered to improve emerging adults' preventive behaviors.