Digital Health Literacy and Infodemic: the impact on Italian medical students between 2019-2020

Abstract Background The COVID-19 infodemic is putting pressure on public health systems to control the pandemic. With the internet and social media playing a key role in emergency communication, digital health literacy (DHL) can be considered a determinant of health. This study aims to assess the impact of infodemic on the skills of medical students, for whom low levels of DHL may affect the ability to identify the best available medical evidence. Methods A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted at the University of Florence (Italy) in Apr-May 2019 (pre-pandemic period) and in Nov-Dec 2020 (pandemic period) to investigate DHL skills. Two different cohorts of students, both in their first year of medical school, participated in the survey. The 8-item self-assessment tool (IT-eHEALS) with a 5-point Likert scale was used to examine DHL. The change in perception of ability between the two cohorts was examined using the Wilcoxon test. Results A total of 329 students participated in the survey in 2019 (F: 58.1%; mean age 20.6±2.1) and 341 in 2020 (F:61.9%; mean age 19.8±2.0). In 2019, participants’ DHL level was moderate with a IT-eHEALS overall mean score (MS) of 28.4±5.8. Students had a good idea of how to find helpful health information (MS 3.9±0.8) and how to use the web for this purpose (MS 3.8±0.9), but they were less confident about the usefulness of the information they received (MS 2.9±1.1). In 2020, the medical students’ DHL level deteriorated as the overall MS of IT-eHEALS decreased to 23.4±7.2 (p < 0.01). The scores of the IT-eHEALS items were significantly lower and students indicated that they found it difficult to assess the information they found (MS 2.4±1.1; p < 0.01). Conclusions DHL can contrast infodemic, but the latter in turn may have a negative impact on perceived DHL skills if personal knowledge base is not well structured. Training programmes for medical students as future health care providers should be reinforces to guide their practise. Key messages Assessing digital health literacy is the first step in directing public efforts towards empowering educational programmes to improve health literacy. Medical students, as future health professionals, should be able to use the best evidence to help their patients identify healthy beliefs and behaviours to manage in health emergencies.


Background:
Being ignored, one of the most common problems among young people, can occur not only in face-to-face communication but also through social media communication tools over the internet and is called cyberostracism (CO). The effects of cyberostracism on people are at least as effective as in real social life and can cause a wide variety of affective disorders. It is thought that the family, environmental factors and the individual's own personality traits effectively control such negative emotions. This study aims to evaluate the CO level and personality types of students who have just started university in Turkey.

Methods:
This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 spring semester and 3148 students in the first year of their university in Turkey constituted the study group. To evaluate the CO levels of the students, CO Scale (min-max score 14-70) and to evaluate the personality type, Ten Item-Personality Inventory (TIPI) was used. The questionnaire prepared in accordance with literature was filled out online by the students. Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis analyses and Multiple Linear Regression was used.

Results:
In the study, 1847 (62.5%) were female and the mean age was 19.9AE1.8 years. The mean score obtained from the CO scale was 21.1AE8.1; 41.8% of the participants had the Agreeableness personality type. Male gender, extended family, not good at face-to-face communication with friends, creating a membership by hiding their identity in social media and being ignored in social media were predictive for CO (F: 69.176, R2: 0.172, p < 0.001) was shown in multiple linear regression.

Conclusions:
Distance education programs during the pandemic period have limited the face-to-face communication of young people, causing them to spend more time in cyberspace. Personality type has been an important factor affecting the level of cyberostracism by determining our behaviour when exposed to difficult life events. Key messages: Young people exposed to cyberostracism, may enter dangerous environments and groups that they think will be easily accepted in their real lives. It is thought that young people should be guided to use social media more consciously in the future in order to prevent cyberostracism.

Background:
The COVID-19 infodemic is putting pressure on public health systems to control the pandemic. With the internet and social media playing a key role in emergency communication, digital health literacy (DHL) can be considered a determinant of health. This study aims to assess the impact of infodemic on the skills of medical students, for whom low levels of DHL may affect the ability to identify the best available medical evidence.

Methods:
A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted at the University of Florence (Italy) in Apr-May 2019 (pre-pandemic period) and in Nov-Dec 2020 (pandemic period) to investigate DHL skills. Two different cohorts of students, both in their first year of medical school, participated in the survey. The 8item self-assessment tool (IT-eHEALS) with a 5-point Likert scale was used to examine DHL. The change in perception of ability between the two cohorts was examined using the Wilcoxon test.

Results:
A total of 329 students participated in the survey in 2019 (F: 58.1%; mean age 20.6AE2.1) and 341 in 2020 (F:61.9%; mean age 19.8AE2.0). In 2019, participants' DHL level was moderate with a IT-eHEALS overall mean score (MS) of 28.4AE5.8. Students had a good idea of how to find helpful health information (MS 3.9AE0.8) and how to use the web for this purpose (MS 3.8AE0.9), but they were less confident about the usefulness of the information they received (MS 2.9AE1.1). In 2020, the medical students' DHL level deteriorated as the overall MS of IT-eHEALS decreased to 23.4AE7.2 (p < 0.01). The scores of the IT-eHEALS items were significantly lower and students indicated that they found it difficult to assess the information they found (MS 2.4AE1.1; p < 0.01).
Conclusions: DHL can contrast infodemic, but the latter in turn may have a negative impact on perceived DHL skills if personal knowledge base is not well structured. Training programmes for medical students as future health care providers should be reinforces to guide their practise.

Key messages:
Assessing digital health literacy is the first step in directing public efforts towards empowering educational programmes to improve health literacy. Medical students, as future health professionals, should be able to use the best evidence to help their patients identify healthy beliefs and behaviours to manage in health emergencies.
15th European Public Health Conference 2022 iii337