Users and non-users of web-based health advice service among Finnish university students - chronic conditions and self-reported health status (a cross-sectional study)

Quantifying the Quality of Web-Based Health Information on Student Health Center Websites Using a Software Tool: Design and Development Study

Background

The internet has become a major source of health information, especially for adolescents and young adults. Unfortunately, inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated health information is widespread on the web. Often adolescents and young adults turn to authoritative websites such as the student health center (SHC) website of the university they attend to obtain reliable health information. Although most on-campus SHC clinics comply with the American College Health Association standards, their websites are not subject to any standards or code of conduct. In the absence of quality standards or guidelines, monitoring and compliance processes do not exist for SHC websites. Thus, there is no oversight of the health information published on SHC websites by any central governing body.

Objective

The aim of this study is to develop, describe, and validate an open-source software that can effectively and efficiently assess the quality of health information on SHC websites in the United States.

Methods

Our cross-functional team designed and developed an open-source software, QMOHI (Quantitative Measures of Online Health Information), that assesses information quality for a specified health topic from all SHC websites belonging to a predetermined list of universities. The tool was designed to compute 8 different quality metrics that quantify various aspects of information quality based on the retrieved text. We conducted and reported results from 3 experiments that assessed the QMOHI tool in terms of its scalability, generalizability in health topics, and robustness to changes in universities’ website structure.

Results

Empirical evaluation has shown the QMOHI tool to be highly scalable and substantially more efficient than manually assessing web-based information quality. The tool’s runtime was dominated by network-related tasks (98%), whereas the metric computations take <2 seconds. QMOHI demonstrated topical versatility, evaluating SHC website information quality for four disparate and broad health topics (COVID, cancer, long-acting reversible contraceptives, and condoms) and two narrowly focused topics (hormonal intrauterine device and copper intrauterine device). The tool exhibited robustness, correctly measuring information quality despite changes in SHC website structure. QMOHI can support longitudinal studies by being robust to such website changes.

Conclusions

QMOHI allows public health researchers and practitioners to conduct large-scale studies of SHC websites that were previously too time- and cost-intensive. The capability to generalize broadly or focus narrowly allows a wide range of applications of QMOHI, allowing researchers to study both mainstream and underexplored health topics. QMOHI’s ability to robustly analyze SHC websites periodically promotes longitudinal investigations and allows QMOHI to be used as a monitoring tool. QMOHI serves as a launching pad for our future work that aims to develop a broadly applicable public health tool for web-based health information studies with potential applications far beyond SHC websites.

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Problematic Internet Use among Ethiopian Undergraduate University Students in 2019

Background

Problematic Internet use is characterized by excessive or poorly controlled preoccupations, urges, or behavior regarding computer use and Internet access which lead to impairment or distress. It has been found that the occurrence rate of problematic Internet use among university students ranges from 0.8% to 47.7%. Despite this, there are multiple challenges that relate to problematic Internet use, which remain underrecognized and largely ignored by stakeholders and are not well known, especially in low-income countries, including Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was conducted aiming to assess the prevalence of problematic Internet use and its associated factors among undergraduate students.

Methods

Cross-sectional study was employed from May 1st to June 1st, 2019. A multistage sampling technique was used to get a total of 846 undergraduate students. Data were collected by using self-administered structured questionnaires of Young's Internet Addiction Test. The collected data were coded and entered into EpiData 3.1 and analyzed by using SPSS version 22; bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with problematic Internet use, and statistical significance was considered at P value <0.05.

Results

For a total of 846 study participants, the response rate was 761 (90%) and the prevalence of problematic Internet use was 19.4%. Multiple logistic regression model revealed that being male [AOR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.80, 6.41], depression [AOR = 3.61, 95% CI: 2.40, 5.43], and khat or caffeinated drinks [AOR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.21, 2.87] were significantly associated with problematic Internet use.

Conclusion

This study revealed that there was high prevalence of problematic Internet use among Dilla University students and there were various factors associated with increased prevalence of problematic Internet use. Therefore, students need to be educated about the safe, valuable, and healthy practices of Internet use. Furthermore, it is better to counsel on substance use and its consequences to overcome the anticipated increase in problematic Internet use.

A model of digital health communication media use during the Covid-19 pandemic

Purpose

This research aims to develop and test a model of digital health communication media (DHCM) use for healthy food information – DHCM usage – during the Covid-19 pandemic. More specifically, this research investigated the simultaneous effects of perceived threat of Covid-19, e-health literacy, attitude toward DHCM usage, knowledge toward DHCM usage, facilitating conditions and information quality on the DHCM usage.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical data were collected through a survey. The respondents of the survey are 192 DHCM users who lived in Tangerang Regency. Structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis was performed.

Findings

The DHCM usage during the Covid-19 pandemic is significantly affected by the attitude towards the DHCM usage and the facilitating conditions. However, the DHCM usage during the Covid-19 pandemic is not significantly affected by the perceived threat of Covid-19, e-health literacy, information quality and knowledge of the DHCM usage.

Research limitations/implications

This research was conducted only in Tangerang Regency and employed a purposive sampling technique. Future research should be conducted in other contexts to examine the stability of the research findings.

Practical implications

In order to improve DHCM usage for healthy food information, it is important for building a positive attitude towards DHCM usage and ensuring the availability of the facilitating conditions.

Originality/value

This paper is the first that develops and tests a model of DHCM usage for healthy food information during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Determinants of frequent Internet use in an urban kidney transplant population in the United States: characterizing the digital divide

CONTEXT

The Internet is a staple of electronic communication and is essential to the emerging telemonitoring and health information technology interventions for adults with chronic diseases.

OBJECTIVE

To identify determinants of frequent Internet use in an urban kidney transplant population in the United States.

DESIGN

A single center, cross-sectional survey study.

SETTING

An urban Midwestern transplant center.

PARTICIPANTS

78 pretransplant and 177 posttransplant patients.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Frequent Internet use, defined as using the Internet more than 5 hours per week.

RESULTS

Only 38% of participants reported being frequent Internet users. Non-Hispanic blacks and participants who reported their race/ethnicity as "other" were significantly less likely than whites to report being frequent Internet users. Women were 59% less likely than men to be frequent users of the Internet. Those who reported having kidney disease for more than 3 years were more likely to report being frequent Internet users. As education increased, Internet use increased. As age increased, Internet use decreased.

CONCLUSION

Alternatives to electronic information sources and/or additional resources should be considered for those who may fall in the so-called digital divide.

eHealth literacy among college students: a systematic review with implications for eHealth education

Background

eHealth literacy refers to the ability of individuals to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic resources and apply such knowledge to addressing or solving a health problem. While the current generation of college students has access to a multitude of health information on the Internet, access alone does not ensure that students are skilled at conducting Internet searches for health information. Ensuring that college students have the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct advanced eHealth searches is an important responsibility particularly for the medical education community. It is unclear if college students, especially those in the medical and health professions, need customized eHealth literacy training for finding, interpreting, and evaluating health- and medical-related information available on the Internet.

Objective

The objective of our review was to summarize and critically evaluate the evidence from existing research on eHealth literacy levels among college students between the ages of 17 and 26 years attending various 4-year colleges and universities located around the world.

Methods

We conducted a systematic literature review on numerous scholarly databases using various combinations of relevant search terms and Boolean operators. The records were screened and assessed for inclusion in the review based on preestablished criteria. Findings from each study that met inclusion criteria were synthesized and summarized into emergent themes.

Results

In the final review we analyzed 6 peer-reviewed articles and 1 doctoral dissertation that satisfied the inclusion criteria. The number of participants in each reviewed study varied widely (from 34 to 5030). The representativeness of the results from smaller studies is questionable. All studies measured knowledge and/or behaviors related to college student ability to locate, use, and evaluate eHealth information. These studies indicated that many college students lack eHealth literacy skills, suggesting that there is significant room for improvement in college students’ ability to obtain and evaluate eHealth information.

Conclusion

Although college students are highly connected to, and feel comfortable with, using the Internet to find health information, their eHealth literacy skills are generally sub par. College students, especially in the health and medical professions, would be well served to receive more customized college-level instruction that improves general eHealth literacy.

An online expert network for high quality information on occupational safety and health: cross-sectional study of user satisfaction and impact

Background

Many people have difficulties finding information on health questions, including occupational safety and health (OSH) issues. One solution to alleviate these difficulties could be to offer questioners free-of-charge, online access to a network of OSH experts who provide tailored, high-quality information. The aim of this study was to assess whether network quality, respectively information quality, as perceived by the questioners, is associated with questioners' overall satisfaction and to explore the impact of the information received on questioners' knowledge, work and work functioning.

Methods

We evaluated the experiences of OSH questioners with the online network ArboAntwoord.com over a two-year period. In this network, approximately 80 qualified experts are available to answer OSH questions. By means of a questionnaire, we assessed questioners' overall satisfaction with the network, whether the network was user-friendly, easily accessible and easy to handle and whether the information provided was complete, applicable and received in a timely manner. The impact of the information on questioners' knowledge, work or work functioning was explored with seven questions. In the study period, 460 unique OSH questioners asked 851 OSH questions. In total, 205 of the 460 questioners completed the questionnaire (response rate 45%).

Results

Of the responders, 71% were satisfied with the ArboAntwoord network. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the applicability of the information had a positive influence on the questioners' overall satisfaction (OR = 16.0, 95% CI: 7.0-36.4). Also, user friendliness of the network (OR = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.3-8.6) and completeness of the information provided (OR = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.3-6.8) were positively related to the questioners' satisfaction. For 74% of the questioners, the information helped to increase their knowledge and understanding. Overall, 25% of the questioners indicated that the received information improved their work, work functioning or health.

Conclusions

A free-of-charge, online expert network in the field of OSH can be a useful strategy to provide OSH questioners with applicable, complete and timely information that may help improve safety and health at work. This study provides more insight in how to satisfy network questioners and about the potential impact of provided information on OSH.

Internet addiction and modeling its risk factors in medical students, iran

BACKGROUND

Today's internet is a usual and common method for identifying and fulfilling unknown practices. Internet network has been prepared rapid and comfortable access to information. Internet addiction is a new and attractive subject that has been regarded as behavior-based addiction recently.

PURPOSE

To estimate the prevalence of internet addiction and some of the related factors among medical students, Iran.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 426 students selected through two-stage sampling method. Yang standard internet addiction questionnaire was used for data collection. After data entry, χ(2), t-test, and Pearson coefficient statistical tests were applied. 0.05 was considered as the significance level.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of internet addiction was 10.8%, with moderate and severe internet addiction equal to 8% and 2.8%, respectively. Mean and standard deviation of Yang internet addiction score was calculated as 32.74±14.52. Internet addiction was associated with sex, marital status, father's job, rate of knowledge about computer and internet, and educational level (P<0.05). But it was not associated with the parents' education, residential area, field of study and level, and school of education (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION

Because internet addiction leads to wasting of the students' leisure time and also useful time, it affects the educational situation inversely. Some measures should be taken to plan and improve the use of internet.

Factors associated with health-related quality of life among university students

INTRODUCTION

University students are subjected to different kinds of stressors, i.e.academic pressures, social issues and financial problems. This can affect their academic achievements and quality of life.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the health-related quality of life of university students, and how it is affected by the presence of chronic diseases, mental disorders comorbidity, and patterns of medical services' use.

METHODS

This web-based study included a sample of 1,410 Slovenian university students. We used a self-administered questionnaire, containing a sheet with demographic data, Zung's self-assessment inventories about anxiety and depression, and EQ-5D questionnaire. The main outcome measures were scores on EQ-5D part and VAS part of the EQ-5D questionnaire.

RESULTS

Independent factors associated with the health-related quality of life of university students, were the presence of chronic pain, the presence of depression and anxiety, need for urgent medical help and at least one visit to a clinical specialist in the past year. The independent factors associated with the health status of university students were the presence of chronic diseases, chronic pain, depression and anxiety, a visit to a clinical specialist, a need for urgent medical help and a visit to an emergency unit in the past year.

CONCLUSION

Health-related quality of life of university students can be seriously affected by the presence of mental disorders and chronic pain. Appropriate health-related measures should be adopted to achieve early recognition of worse health-related quality of life, the presence of mental disorders and other chronic conditions, and to enable their effective treatment.

Use of the internet for health information among primary care patients in rural West Texas

BACKGROUND

Little is known about how primary care patients in rural, remote or border areas use the internet for their health information. This study examined the factors related to internet use for medical information among primary care clinic patients in such areas of West Texas.

METHODS

A convenience sample was drawn from nine clinics that serve low-income rural area populations. Surveys were distributed to the patients during a 6-week period in the winter of 2006. The analytical sample included 1890 participants. Logistic regressions were conducted.

RESULTS

Of 1890 subjects, 699 (37%) reported having used the internet for medical information. Among those who reported using the internet for health information, respondents' primary usage pattern was to request more health information (29.9%), followed by the purchase of health supplies (13.4%). Most internet users (78.8%) agreed that the online medical/health information had improved their understanding of a specific condition, disease, or treatment. Almost 60% of the internet users thought the information was reliable. The correlates of internet use included health insurance, self-rated health, health confidence, and number of worried days as well as age, education level, ethnicity, and language.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings showed a much lower rate of internet use for medical/health information compared with a 2006 nationwide survey. This finding suggests that promoting health/medical information through websites or other on-line resources might not be the most effective way to reach a majority of patients in remote, rural or border areas.

Feasibility of internet-based health-related quality of life data collection in a large patient cohort

Background

Patient registries are commonly used to track survival and medical outcomes in large cohorts. However, large-scale collection of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) data is more challenging because such data must be collected directly from patients. Internet-based HRQOL questionnaires are a potential solution, allowing home data collection with immediate storage in a central database.

Objectives

Our objectives were to investigate the sociodemographic predictors of Internet use and willingness to convey HRQOL information over the Internet in a Canadian tertiary care patient population and to determine whether Internet use patterns of tertiary care patients differ from those of the general Canadian population. Additionally, we sought to identify the success of home completion of Internet-based HRQOL questionnaires, as well as factors hindering home completion.

Methods

We surveyed 644 patients at the Toronto General and St. Michael’s Hospitals from November 2003 through July 2006 within a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of HRQOL in patients with lung disease or lung transplants. Using multiple logistic regression, we assessed patient age, gender, rurality, marital status, and employment or education status as potential sociodemographic predictors of having an Internet-accessible home computer, using email at least weekly, and willingness to complete a quality of life questionnaire over the Internet. Patients electing to complete questionnaires over the Internet were followed from September 2005 through March 2008 to assess completion of HRQOL questionnaires from home, identify barriers for noncompletion, and determine sociodemographic predictors for home completion.

Results

Of the 644 patients, the median age was 51 years, with a similar number of males and females. Most were urban Ontario residents, were unemployed, and were married or in a common-law relationship. Having an Internet-accessible home computer was reported by 79.7% (513/644) of patients and use of email at least weekly by 66.5% (414/623) of patients. A majority of patients (57.1% 368/644) were willing to complete HRQOL questionnaires over the Internet via an emailed link. Of the participating 644 patients, 368 elected to complete future questionnaires from home and, as part of a gradual roll-out of the home HRQOL questionnaire, 211 were sent emails inviting them to do so. Of the invited patients, 78% (165/211) completed at least one questionnaire from home. The most common reason for noncompletion was a lack of or an inability to find time to complete the questionnaire. No statistically significant sociodemographic predictors of Internet use were associated with completion or noncompletion of questionnaires from home.

Conclusions

Home, Internet-based HRQOL assessment is feasible in tertiary care patient populations with a high predicted rate of Internet usage based on sociodemographic parameters. A large minority of patients were unwilling or unable to take part in home HRQOL assessments indicating that alternative methods of data collection are still required. However, the majority of patients electing to complete home HRQOL assessments went on to do so over the Internet.