An Evaluation of e-Health Literacy in University Students: The Example of Yozgat Bozok University

Aim It is stated that social media sites, which has been started to be used widely also in the field of health, are used as a potential resource for health information. In this study, it is aimed to determine the e-health literacy level in university students. Methods The descriptive type of research was conducted in Yozgat Bozok University Faculty of Education between May and June 2019. For the research, ethics approval was obtained from Erciyes University Clinical Research Ethics Committee, and permission was obtained from Yozgat Bozok University. 310 people who did not have communication barriers and accepted to participate in the study were interwieved face to face. Socio-demographic questionnaire form and ehealth literacy scale were used as data collection tools. Results The average age of the research group was 21.0±0, and 69.1% of it was female. 56.2% of the students stated that they obtained health-related information from doctors, 69.7% consulted doctors when they had problems about following the given medical advice or recommendations, and 57.7% stated that that they understood informed consent forms. 57.4% of the students indicated that the internet was useful for health-related decisions and it was important to access health resources on the internet. The total score average of the ehealth literacy scale of the students was 28.4±0.3 Conclusion In our study, it was determined that students have a moderate perception of e-health literacy and use the internet for health-related issues.