Internet Use, eHealth Literacy, and Dietary Supplement Use Among Young Adults in Pakistan: Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background Increased access to the internet has facilitated widespread availability of health information. Thus, electronic health (eHealth) literacy—the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic resources and apply that knowledge in making a health-related decision—is a crucial skill. Despite the increasing use of the internet as a source of health information in developing countries, only a few studies have examined the eHealth literacy of young adults, who frequently use the internet to access health information in these developing countries. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the patterns of internet use and eHealth literacy levels among university students pursuing a non–health-related degree in Pakistan. We also examined the association of the eHealth literacy levels of these young adults with their physical activity levels and dietary supplement intake. Methods Students from 2 leading engineering universities in Pakistan were invited to participate in a cross-sectional anonymous web-based survey in order to collect data on their internet use, eHealth literacy, and dietary supplement intake. Of the 900 eligible university students who were invited to participate, 505 (56.1%) students who completed the questionnaire were included in the analysis. The findings were converted to median values and frequency analyses were performed. The associations between the variables were determined using the chi-square test; P≤.05 was considered significant. Results In this study, the median eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) score was 29, which did not vary across gender. The most common type of health-related information that was searched by the participants was that related to maintaining a healthy lifestyle (305/505, 60.4%). Participants with high eHEALS scores were those who used the internet frequently for finding people with similar health issues (P<.001). The use of specific social media platforms was not associated with the perceived eHealth literacy levels. Neither the frequency of physical activity nor the dietary supplement use was associated with the eHealth literacy of the participants. Conclusions University students in non–health-related disciplines in Pakistan expressed high confidence in their skills to find health-related information on the internet, as indicated by the aggregate eHEALS scores. However, the findings of our study show that the perceived eHealth literacy was not associated with health behaviors such as physical activity and dietary supplement intake. Further research is necessary to investigate the extent to which eHealth literacy can be considered as a panacea for solving public health challenges in developing countries.