Relating health information literacy self-efficacy to information technology use and health status : a large-scale study among Chinese undergraduates

• Main Authors: Fu, Shaoxiong, Chen, Xiaoyu, Deng, Shengli
• Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Library and information science; Health Information Literacy; Health Status
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151059
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The purpose of this paper is to relate individuals’ health information literacy (HIL) self-efficacy to their information technology (IT) use and health status. Using a large-scale field survey with 6,160 valid respondents from undergraduates in a Chinese university, we found that individuals’ HIL self-efficacy was significantly related to some socio-demographics and lifestyle features, IT use, and health status. Meanwhile, some socio-demographics and lifestyle features and health status help identify low HIL self-efficacy individuals, while moderate daily IT use may improve HIL self-efficacy. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations and future work, are also discussed.