Digital Health Usage and Awareness among MedicalStudents: A Survey Study

Radwa Hassan; Omaima Kamel Elsalamony; Shaimaa Abdel-Aziz; Mohammed Fathelbab; Hend Aly Sabry

doi:10.3889/oamjms.2021.7007

Authors

Radwa Hassan Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5417-7272
Omaima Kamel Elsalamony Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
Shaimaa Abdel-Aziz Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6133-2370
Mohammed Fathelbab Department of Neurophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, Helwan, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8466-4573
Hend Aly Sabry Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2021.7007

Keywords:

Digital, Misinformation, Adolescents, University students, Health literacy, Internet, Seekers, Communication, Technology, Knowledge

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In the era of increasingly expanding digital ecosystem, health misinformation became highly risky, especially the information sources which are non-evidence based. This problem is magnified due to the vulnerability of most internet users, especially the adolescents information seekers who lack health literacy.

AIM: The aim of this study is to explore the pattern of digital health usage among medical university students and their level of awareness towards choosing online health information (OHI).

METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 480 medical students from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd academic years, at the Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, between October 2019 and October 2020. Students took an online structured questionnaire on google forms.

RESULTS: Mobile smartphones were the most widely used technological devices by participants. Almost all participants used Internet daily 98.8%, with the highest preference to social media 72.5% and text messaging 74.8%. Seeking health information was a common practice for personal health-related purpose of using Internet 87.1%, despite the lack in checking the reliability of messages and quality of provider. Knowledge about advantages and disadvantages of digital tools was also deficient among participant medical students.

CONCLUSION: Despite the high technology adoption among the university medical students, they lack the needed knowledge and skills for proper search, choosing, and evaluation of OHI.

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