Evaluation of Media Literacy in Students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Background and purpose: Media literacy is defined as the ability to access, analyze, and evaluate the messages transferred by the media, which has the various dimensions, including the creativity, critical thinking and problem solving. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the media literacy in students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Material and Method: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 370 students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. They were selected via social networks using stratified random sampling in 2021.The data were collected using demographic and media literacy measurements. Furthermore, the data were analyzed in SPSS softwareversion20. Results: The results showed that 87% and 13% of the participants respectively had a moderate and high level of media literacy. The highest and lowest mean scores were related to dimensions of media message content perception and media message analysis. The study also showed a significant relation between ages, grade point average and father’s education level with media literacy. Using social media like as Telegram, WhatsApp and Facebook was significantly associated with media literacy. Conclusion: The result showed that the rate of media literacy in students was moderate level, but students in media message analysis and critical thinking had low level, so we conclude that there is a need to provide training media literacy skills in institutions, universities and schools.