Perceived Transactional eHealth Literacy and Its Association with the Demographic Characteristics among Undergraduate Level Students of Dhaka City in Bangladesh

Authors

  • Ashiqur Rahman Department of Health Education, National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM), Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh
  • Nusrat Jahan Lima Department of Conservative Dentistry, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
  • Abu Sadat Mohammad Nurunnabi Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, ON, Canada
  • Nasif Khalid Shwadheen Department of English, Daffodil International University, Savar, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
  • Md Meshbahur Rahman Department of Biostatistics, National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM), Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh
  • Hafiza Sultana Department of Health Education, National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM), Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31344/ijhhs.v8i4.730

Keywords:

eHealth, health literacy, undergraduate students, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: The number of internet user for health information is increasing day by day. eHealth literacycan promote knowledge and engagement, which will increase the frequency of information-seeking, effectivepatient-healthcare provider communication, proactive health behaviors, and better health related quality of lifethrough effective use of internet. Objective: To assess eHealth literacy and perceived trust on digital channelsfor available health information among the undergraduate level students of Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted, between January and December of 2023, among the undergraduatestudents hailing from four institutions of Dhaka city namely Jagannath University, Daffodil InternationalUniversity, Enam Medical College and Mandy Dental College. A total of 384 students participated in thisstudy. pretested questionnaire including Transactional eHealth Literacy Instrument was administered for datacollection. Results: Among 384 students, most of them were ≥21 years. Male students were predominant.Most of the respondents used internet for health information (55.5%) and preferred digital channels (89%)over broadcast channels for health information. The mean score of eHealth literacy was 3.56. Translationalliteracy was highest among the four categories (mean=3.80). The scores for communicative, critical, andfunctional literacy were 3.34, 3.44, and 3.73, in that order. Thus, communicative literacy is the area with thelowest literacy for the respondents. Significantly higher eHealth literacy was found among ≥21 years students,and students of medical background, used intenet within the last week and digital channels users for healthinformation (P>0.05). However, no difference was found between male and female students. Conclusion:Our data revealed that eHealth literacy among the students was moderate. Improvement of eHealth literacy isneeded for mass health promotion in the country.

International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Vol. 08 No. 04 Oct’24 Page: 321-327

Downloads

Published

2024-11-13

How to Cite

Rahman, A., Lima, N. J., Nurunnabi, A. S. M., Shwadheen, N. K., Rahman, M. M., & Sultana, H. (2024). Perceived Transactional eHealth Literacy and Its Association with the Demographic Characteristics among Undergraduate Level Students of Dhaka City in Bangladesh. International Journal of Human and Health Sciences (IJHHS), 8(4), 321–327. https://doi.org/10.31344/ijhhs.v8i4.730

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 4 (2024)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Ashiqur Rahman, Nusrat Jahan Lima, Abu Sadat Mohammad Nurunnabi, Nasif Khalid Shwadheen, Md Meshbahur Rahman, Hafiza Sultana

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish in the International Journal of Human and Health Sciences agree to the following terms that:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant International Journal of Human and Health Sciences the right of first publication of the work.

  2. Creative Commons Licence
    Articles in International Journal of Human and Health Sciences are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License CC BY-4.0.This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
  3. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  4. Authors are permitted to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as greater citation of published work.