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