Needs, Uses and Evaluation of Internet Health Information Among Students in a Provincial University

Jae Ouk Ahn; Soung Woon Jang; Kyu Sook Kim; Jung A Kim

doi:10.4258/jksmi.2009.15.1.153

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Ahn, Jang, Kim, and Kim: Needs, Uses and Evaluation of Internet Health Information Among Students in a Provincial University

Original Article

Journal of Korean Society of Medical Informatics

Journal of Korean Society of Medical Informatics 2009; 15(1): 153-163.

Published online: 31 March 2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4258/jksmi.2009.15.1.153

Needs, Uses and Evaluation of Internet Health Information Among Students in a Provincial University

Jae Ouk Ahn¹, Soung Woon Jang², Kyu Sook Kim³, Jung A Kim⁴

¹Department Medical Informatics, Soonchunhyang University, Korea.

²In-campus Health Center, Soonchunhyang University, Korea.

³Health Management Team, Seoul Metropolitan Dongbu Hospital, Korea.

⁴Department Nursing, Hanyang University, Korea.

Corresponding Author (joyhippo@hanyang.ac.kr)

Received 19 August 2008 Accepted 1 December 2008

Abstract

Objective

This study aims to investigate the needs, uses and evaluation of Internet health information among students in a provincial university.

Methods

Nine hundred and sixty one student from seven different classes of S University located in Chungnam province participated in this study from 2nd to 9th May, 2005. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data. Collected data were analyzed on SPSS 11.0.

Results

58.2% of them have needed some health information before and 84.6% of them needed the health information offered by a University. 67.2% of them use the Internet more than any other resource to acquire Health Information. 90.9% of them used a search engines to get health information on the Internet. 57.6% of them have searched for Internet health information to get information about specific disease or medical problem. The most frequently searched topics were LASIK(laser in-situ Keratomileusis), diabetes, and contraception. 39.6% of them evaluated the Internet health information was reliable and 55.8% of them satisfied with the Internet health information.

Conclusion

Universities and their in-campus health centers are needed to offer the trustworthy Internet health informtaion on their official homepages so that the student can refer to the reliable and qualified Internet health information.

Keywords: Internet, Consumer Health Information, Student Health Services, Community Health Center

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Needs for health information (n=961)

Table 2

Obtaining means and using objective of Internet health information (n=717)

Table 3

Type of obtained Internet health information (n=717)

Table 4

Health Information most frequently searched on the Internet within last 1 year (multiple choice reponses) (n=717)

Table 5

Evaluation of obtained Internet health information (n=717)

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