The Relationship Between Students' E-Health Literacy and General Health in a Military University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Electronic health literacy is a combination of skills in terms of health, information, science, computer, and internet. Improving students' scientific and practical abilities and promoting their academic achievement require good general health. Objective: The present study aimed at assessing the relationship between e-health literacy and general health of students of Aja University of Medical Sciences in 2018. Material and Methods: The present cross sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 305 students of Aja University of Medical Sciences in 2018 enrolled with convenience sampling. Data collection tools included demographic questionnaire, e-health literacy scale (e-Heals), and general health questionnaire (GHQ-28). The relationship between variables was assessed using Spearman correlation test, and groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U and the Kruskal-Wallis tests. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 and P <0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 305 questionnaires were analyzed. Students' mean score of e-health literacy was 28.15±5.9, and that of general health was 27.24±16.67. According to GHQ-28, a lower score indicates better general health; a significant and inverse correlation was observed between students' e-health literacy and general health (r= -0.139, P=0.015). E-health literacy had no significant relationship with the subscales of physical status, anxiety, insomnia, and social dysfunction, but it had a significant and inverse relationship with the subscale of depression (r= -0.198, P=0.001). Discussion and Conclusion: Better general health was associated with higher e-health literacy. This relationship affects general health improvement and it seems that taking measures to promote e-health literacy improves general health in students. Further studies are recommended to examine how these factors affect one another.