Gap between Perceived eHealth Literacy and Ability to Use Online Cancer-Related Information

If we build it, will they come? A scoping review of objective engagement metrics in asynchronous psychosocial telehealth interventions for breast cancer survivors

Burgeoning technologies and the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a boom of telehealth for immunocompromised patients, such as those with cancer. Telehealth modalities overcome barriers and promote accessibility to care. Currently, efficacious psychosocial interventions exist to address negative aftereffects of a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Many of these interventions often incorporate asynchronous telehealth (e.g., web-based, smartphone mobile app) features. However, asynchronous platforms are limited by suboptimal engagement. Subjective indicators of perceived engagement in the forms of acceptability, feasibility, and adherence are often captured, yet prior research has found discrepancies between perceived and actual engagement. The FITT (frequency, intensity, time/duration, type of engagement) model, originally developed for use to quantify engagement within exercise trials, provides a framework to assess objective engagement of psychosocial interventions for breast cancer. Using 14 keywords and searching six databases through 11/2023, 56 studies that used asynchronous telehealth interventions in breast cancer were identified. All FITT domains were reported at least once across studies with intensity metrics most commonly reported. Nine metrics were described across FITT domains. Human-centered design principles to guide telehealth development and privacy considerations are discussed. Findings offer suggestions for how to represent and optimize objective engagement in asynchronous telehealth cancer care.

Internet Use, eHealth Literacy, and Influencing Factors in Turkish Cancer Patients: A Descriptive and Correlational Study

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to determine the Internet use, eHealth literacy levels, and influencing factors in Turkish cancer patients.

DATA SOURCES

A descriptive and correlational study was conducted in a single cancer center with 296 patients. Data were collected using a personal information form, an Internet Usage Form, and the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Mann‒Whitney U test, Kruskal‒Wallis test, and multiple linear regression analysis.

CONCLUSION

The participants received health-related information from the Internet (36.8%) with a mean total eHEALS score of 22.92 ± 9.67. In the multiple linear regression analysis, the descriptive characteristics of the participants were negatively affected by age (β = -0.143) and education level (β = 0.204). The use of the Internet to obtain information about cancer (β = 0.455) positively affected the level of eHealth literacy. The eHealth literacy of patients is at a level that needs to be improved and there are factors affecting it.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Nurses should increase patients' eHealth literacy and guide them on how to access accurate information about cancer on the Internet. While doing this, it should be planned to consider the age, education level, and Internet use of the patients.

Efficacy of an Integrated Mobile Application System for Patients with Radiation Therapy: A Pilot Study

The use of IT applications for patients undergoing radiotherapy is limited. This study aimed to develop an integrated system for communication between patients and radiation oncologists using IT technology and report the first test results for the system “Assisted Radiation Oncology Mobile Application” (AROMA). This system consisted of a manager program, a server running on a PC, and a mobile application on a smartphone. A prospective survey was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of this system from October 2020 to January 2021. The survey consisted of a specific questionnaire on basic information and application use by the patients. The management program was designed such that the user (doctor) edits the treatment schedule, member (patient and doctor) information, self-management, disease information, and side effect questionnaire. The mobile application for patients consisted of the current schedule, treatment schedule calendar, side effect questionnaire, side effect management method, and disease information entered by the doctor. A total of 41 patients were enrolled in this study. The mean adverse event response time was 4.4 days. In the survey, the mobile application received positive views (8.6/10 points). Most responses related to the side effect reporting function (94%) and communication using the application (91%) were positive. Satisfaction with the application design and each menu item was high, with an average of ≥8 and ≥8.5 points in most cases, respectively. The survey showed good satisfaction with the design, operability, and reporting system. Therefore, the system can facilitate communication between patients and radiation oncologists in the future.

Associations of COVID-19 Risk Perception, eHealth Literacy, and Protective Behaviors Among Chinese College Students Following Vaccination: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background

In spite of strict regulation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) preventive measures and containment in China, there are still confirmed cases sporadically occurring in many cities. College students live in groups and have active social activities so that it will trigger a serious public health event once an infection event occurs. Thus, identifying the status and related factors of protective behaviors among them after receiving vaccination will be crucial for epidemic control. This study aimed to gather information on the protective behaviors and to identify the associations of COVID-19 risk perception, eHealth literacy, and protective behaviors for Chinese college students following vaccination.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey of college students engaged in protective behaviors post vaccination was conducted using the COVID-19 risk perception scale, eHealth literacy scale, and protective behaviors following vaccination questionnaire in one of the groups. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to confirm the correlation among the COVID-19 risk perception, eHealth literacy, and protective behaviors for Chinese college students.

Results

A total of 5,641 Chinese college students were included. Male students comprised 59.01% with an average age of (21.39 ± 2.75) years and most students rating their health as very good (44.85%) or pretty good (46.98%). A smaller percentage (13.76%) believed that they would likely or most likely be infected with COVID-19 after getting vaccinated. In addition, more than 1 in 10 (10.35%) college students had ever suspected to suffer from post-vaccination reactions following the COVID-19 vaccination. The mean score of protective behaviors was 26.06 ± 3.97. Approximately one-third (30.42%) of the students always or often did not wear a mask when going out. Some college students (29.25%) did not maintain distance of at least 1 m from others in social situations. Older female college students who were in good health and perceived as being at a low risk of getting infected with COVID-19, and those never suspected to suffer from post-vaccination reactions expected to engage in post-vaccination protective measures. Those with a higher level of perceived risk, severe risk perception and eHealth literacy, and a lower level of unknown risk perception were more likely to engage in further protective behaviors after getting vaccinated.

Conclusions

Overall, the level of protective behaviors among the Chinese college students following vaccination could be improved, especially for male, younger college students in poor health. This study revealed the predictive effects of risk perception and eHealth literacy on protective behaviors, recommending that the negative and positive effects of risk perception should be balanced in epidemic risk management, and eHealth literacy promotion should also be emphasized for public health and social measures.

Social Media Use, eHealth Literacy, Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward COVID-19 Vaccination Among Chinese College Students in the Phase of Regular Epidemic Prevention and Control: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Background

College students are at a high risk of being infected with COVID-19, and they are one of the key population clusters that should be vaccinated. The present study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19 vaccination among Chinese college students, and to determine the relationships among social media use, eHealth literacy, and KAP toward COVID-19 vaccination among Chinese college students.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted by administering questionnaires to evaluate KAP toward COVID-19 vaccination, social media use, and eHealth literacy in one of the groups of Chinese college students. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the association among social media use, eHealth literacy, and KAP regarding COVID-19 vaccination.

Results

Among the 3,785 validated questionnaires collected from Chinese college students, male students accounted for 59.74%, and the mean age of the college students was (20.90 ± 3.14) years. More than four-fifths (83.43%) of the college students spent <2 h a week on social media, and the official and public social media were most common social media types. Additionally, the scores for KAP toward COVID-19 vaccination ranging from 0 to 48 among college students were high (39.73 ± 5.58), lowest for knowledge domain (3.07 ± 0.76), and the highest for practice domain (3.47 ± 0.63). Female college students who were in good health status and who spent more time browsing social media, frequently used official and public social media, rarely used aggregated social media, and had a relatively strong self-perception of eHealth literacy and information acquisition of eHealth literacy were more likely to have high levels of KAP regarding COVID-19 vaccination.

Conclusions

Overall, Chinese college students have excellent KAP toward COVID-19 vaccination. Based on the findings of this study, we recommend that health counseling regarding COVID-19 vaccination should target male students and those with inferior health status. Dissemination of health education regarding COVID-19 vaccination should be purposely conducted, and cooperation with official and public social media platforms should be promoted. Finally, eHealth literacy, which is one of the predictors of the level of KAP regarding COVID-19 vaccination, should be emphasized.

Evolution and diffusion of information literacy topics

Investigation of the topic of information literacy and its changes can be informative for researchers and provide a better understanding of the corresponding domains. This study conducted a topic model dynamic analysis of the articles on information literacy studies in the Web of Science core collection database that were published from 2005 to 2019. The global topics and their popularities, topical similarities and correlations, along with the evolution of temporal local topics and the diffusion of subject local topics were analyzed and presented. Nine global topics differed in terms of their temporal and subject characteristics, and this study focused on ability, technology, field, people, place and application of information literacy. For the temporal local topics, crossing was the main evolutionary mechanism; hence, the core topic words were relatively stable, but few new research directions have been explored in recent years. For the subject local topics, absorbing with division and absorbing were the main mechanisms, which supported the diffusion progress of information literacy studies among subjects. However, it is necessary to promote the development of future research through the innovative development of multidisciplinary integration. Researchers and practitioners should focus on the impact of information technology, increase the breadth and depth of the research field, and develop innovative evaluation methods that are based on data to promote the comprehensive, sustainable and effective improvement in information literacy.