[Use of new technologies by adolescents in the search for health information]

Perception of Internet Use in Relation to Health Decision-Making among Nursing Students

Internet use has increased worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, to the point where it has inadvertently integrated into our lives. University students use the Internet daily for different purposes: seeking information, entertaining, as a teaching and learning tool, they consider social networks as a means of connection and social interaction, and to seek information to make health decisions. Because of this, the Internet and social networks have gained popularity among this group, to the point of developing an abusive use that is not perceived as an addictive risk. A descriptive analysis was performed through the adaptation of a survey about Internet use, social networks and health perception; this survey was given to nursing students of the Gimbernat School during the academic year 2021-2022. Students completed the ad hoc questionnaire (N = 486; 83.5% female, 16.3% male; only 1 declared to be non-binary gender). Our hypothesis had to do with whether the population of nursing students at Gimbernat School had increased, after the pandemic, its use of the Internet and social networks to make decisions about health problems. The objective of the study was to analyse differences in students' habits of use of the Internet and social networks as they look for health information, their decision-making when they find the information and their perception of health as nursing students from a gender perspective. The results showed a clear positive relationship between the variables studied. Of nursing students, 60.4% spend between 20 and more than 40 h a week using the Internet, and 43.6% of these hours are spent on social networks. Of students, 31.1% make health decisions by searching for information on the Internet and consider it useful and relevant. The use of the Internet and social media in relation to health decisions is clearly affected. To try to reduce the incidence of the problem, interventions are needed regarding the prevention and/or consequences of Internet abuse and health education of student nurses as future health assets.

Documentary quality versus veracity of information of the websites on syphilis and gonorrhea

Objective: Analyze the possible relation between the documentary quality (DQ) versus the veracity of information (VI) on the syphilis and gonorrhea web pages. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study of websites containing information about syphilis and gonorrhea, by accessing this population through a Google. The quality was studied by using 8 variables belonging to DQ and 7 variables of the VI. Results: A total of 440 active websites mainly belonging to mass media and private entities was assessed. The fulfillment of DQ gave the following results: Mean 3.46 ± 0.07, median 4 and range from 0 to 7. The VI result was: median 4.07 ± 0.09, median 4 and range from 0 to 7. According to the search athwart syphilis or gonorrhea, the contrast of the median of the two indicators was: 3.55 vs 3.37 p = 0.181 and 4.14 vs 4.00 p = 0.442. No correlation was verified amid the data of DQ and VI (R = 0.04); p = 0.368. Similarly, no significance was observed when segregating data by disease, in the case of syphilis R = -0.03; p = 0.625 and on gonorrhea R = 0.12; p = 0.064. Conclusions: The DQ and VI bestowed low outcomes, which implies poor quality of syphilis and gonorrhea websites. According to infection (syphilis or gonorrhea), there were no meaningful differences amid the median values of the two indicators. Being acquainted with the authorship and affiliation of a website and the fact that it is tied to a prestigious web may be a factor to be deemed when predicting the VI of a website. The correlation amid the two indicators did not demonstrate an association, thus, knowing the DQ does not imply having the security of an adequate VI.

Food and Nutrition Myths among Future Secondary School Teachers: A Problem of Trust in Inadequate Sources of Information

The Internet and social networks are full of nutrition information, offering people guidance to make healthy eating choices. These sources always present themselves as a gateway to reliable information on healthy eating; however, too often this is not the case. Far from being trustworthy, there are usually plenty of food myths. A food myth is a widespread false belief about food, nutrition, and eating facts that gives rise to certain behaviors, from fashionable trends to diets. Academic training is a valuable tool to combat food myths and the pseudoscience linked to them, but educators must participate in this battle. To test this idea, we analyzed the prevalence of nine highly popular food myths held by 201 secondary school Spanish teachers. The aim was to assess whether expertise in science areas prevents teachers from falling into these food misconceptions. Our study results showed that food myths are held regardless of specialty area. The power of the media in popularizing and spreading nutrition myths among educators may be the cause, even more potent than academic training. We conclude that since scientific knowledge is not enough to erase food myths, we need further actions if we aim to prevent the problems that food myths may cause.