Digital Health Literacy among Healthcare Students in Da Nang, Vietnam: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Background and Objectives: Recently, the larger number of people use internet to seek out information and assess medical consultant online. The wide availability of internet has facilitated to approach information instead of through healthcare professionals as before. Therefore, the importance of digital health literacy has remarkably developed. The study examined digital health literacy of healthcare students and identified the influencing factors. Material and Methods: The cross-sectional study conducted on 1547 healthcare students of Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy, Vietnam, through online with convenient sampling. The first part of instrument was general characteristics. Web-based information seeking behaviors questionnaire was modified to be suitable to Vietnamese context. Digital Health Literacy Instrument was used to explore digital health literacy level of healthcare students. Data were analyzed using frequency, description calculations, and multiple linear regression test. Results: The mean of digital health literacy of healthcare students was 57.38 (SD=9.15). The skills of operation, using computer and web browsers were highest score, while web navigation and orientation skills got the lowest scores. Gender, educational program, English level, hours of using internet per day, reasons for using internet, means to log in internet, and web-based information seeking behaviors influenced digital health literacy (p lt;.05). Conclusion: The level of digital health literacy of students was medium. Improving digital health literacy for university students would enrich the ability of online information evaluation. Health information should be developed on mobile applications in order to enhance the digital health literacy among students.