Associations Between Health Literacy, eHealth Literacy, and COVID-19-Related Health Behaviors Among Chinese College Students: Cross-sectional Online Study.
J Med Internet Res
; 23(5): e25600, 2021 05 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1256246
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the internet has significantly spread information, providing people with knowledge and advice about health protection regarding COVID-19. While a previous study demonstrated that health and eHealth literacy are related to COVID-19 prevention behaviors, few studies have focused on the relationship between health literacy, eHealth literacy, and COVID-19-related health behaviors. The latter includes not only preventative behaviors but also conventional health behaviors.OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study was to develop and verify a COVID-19-related health behavior questionnaire, explore its status and structure, and examine the associations between these behaviors and participants' health literacy and eHealth literacy.METHODS:
A snowball sampling method was adopted to recruit participants to complete anonymous cross-sectional questionnaire surveys online that assessed sociodemographic information, self-reported coronavirus knowledge, health literacy, eHealth literacy, and COVID-19-related health behaviors.RESULTS:
Of 1873 college students who were recruited, 781 (41.7%) had adequate health literacy; the mean eHealth literacy score was 30.16 (SD 6.31). The COVID-19-related health behavior questionnaire presented a two-factor structure-COVID-19-specific precautionary behaviors and conventional health behaviors-with satisfactory fit indices and internal consistency (Cronbach α=.79). The mean score of COVID-19-related health behaviors was 53.77 (SD 8.03), and scores differed significantly (P<.05) with respect to residence, college year, academic major, family economic level, self-reported health status, having a family member or friend infected with coronavirus, and health literacy level. Linear regression analysis showed that health literacy and eHealth literacy were positively associated with COVID-19-specific precautionary behaviors (ßhealth literacy=.149, ßeHealth literacy=.368; P<.001) and conventional health behaviors (ßhealth literacy=.219, ßeHealth literacy=.277; P<.001).CONCLUSIONS:
The COVID-19-related health behavior questionnaire was a valid and reliable measure for assessing health behaviors during the pandemic. College students with higher health literacy and eHealth literacy can more actively adopt COVID-19-related health behaviors. Additionally, compared to health literacy, eHealth literacy is more closely related to COVID-19-related health behaviors. Public intervention measures based on health and eHealth literacy are required to promote COVID-19-related health behaviors during the pandemic, which may be helpful to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection among college students.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Health Behavior
/
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
/
Telemedicine
/
Health Literacy
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
J Med Internet Res
Journal subject:
Medical Informatics
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
25600
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS