BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to measure the Korean health literacy level and to analyse its gaps according to the factors of socioeconomic and health status and health behaviors. Based on this, policy implications were reviewed to improve the understandability on health information and to reduce the gap among socioeconomic groups. METHODS: HLS-EU-Q47, a tool developed by the European Health Literacy Project, was used to conduct a face-to-face interview survey on the health literacy for the samples from general population. RESULTS: The public general health literacy (HL) index was 34.5 out of 50. HL is consisted of three sub-dimensions: healthcare (HC-HL), disease prevention (DP-HL), and health promotion (HP-HL). And a HL analysis found scores of 34.7 points for HC-HL, 35.4 points for DP-HL, and 33.3 points for HP-HL. The level of all HL was different according to socioeconomic characteristics and health behavior. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, more research activities on health-related literacy need to be conducted, and monitoring system on the HL level needs to be developed and implemented. In addition, a program to improve HL levels needs to be developed in order to strengthen the basis for a more sustainable healthcare system as an agenda with national health policy priority.
Consumer Health Information ; Delivery of Health Care ; Health Behavior ; Health Literacy ; Health Policy ; Health Promotion ; Literacy

This study aimed to assess the efficiency of delivering a 4-month course of “effective literature search” among medical postgraduate students for improving information literacy skills. This was a cross-sectional study in which 90 postgraduate students were randomly selected and participated in 12 training sessions. Effective search strategies were presented and the students' attitude and competency concerning online search were measured by a pre- and post-questionnaires and skill tests. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 16 using t-test. There was a significant improvement (p=0.00), in student's attitude. The mean (standard deviation [SD]) was 2.9 (0.8) before intervention versus the mean (SD) 3.9 (0.7) after intervention. Students'familiarity with medical resources and databases improved significantly. The data showed a significant increase (p=0.03), in students' competency score concerning search strategy design and conducting a search. The mean (SD) was 2.04 (0.7) before intervention versus the mean (SD) 3.07 (0.8) after intervention. Also, students' ability in applying search and meta search engine improved significantly. This study clearly acknowledges that the training intervention provides considerable opportunity to improve medical student's information literacy skills.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education ; Health Services ; Humans ; Information Literacy* ; Search Engine ; Students, Medical

Since chronic diseases have emerged as a major cause of death worldwide, people has been exposed to large amounts of information on healthy eating practices that are important aspects of its prevention and management. Food literacy, the functional, interactive, and critical ability to manage dietary information with the aim of improving health, is of global interest. In South Korea (hereafter Korea), there is currently a lack of food literacy research, despite its pertinence for the development of public health policies that are tailored to recipients' ability to understand and address health and nutrition issues. In this study, the research trend and policy implications of food literacy are derived through reviewing preceding studies related to food literacy in Korea and elsewhere. Existing literature on food literacy in Korea placed much emphasis on the functional ability of food literacy. Future research on the operational definitions of interactive and critical food literacy and their health effects in Korea is necessary. In addition, there is a lack of research on the development and validation of measurement tools that evaluate integrative concepts of food literacy. To accurately examine the relationships among food literacy, diet, and health, standardized measurement tools that can comprehensively evaluate food literacy frameworks for various Korean sub-population groups should be developed. Based on such future studies, an investigation of health promotion programs or policies on reducing the cognitive burden of food literacy would contribute to improving heathy eating practices in Korea.
Cause of Death ; Chronic Disease ; Consumer Health Information ; Diet ; Eating ; Food Labeling ; Health Education ; Health Literacy ; Health Promotion ; Korea ; Literacy ; Public Health

OBJECTIVES: Utilizing social network analysis, this study aimed to analyze the main keywords in the literature regarding the health literacy of and the use of online health information by aged persons over 65. METHODS: Medical Subject Heading keywords were extracted from articles on the PubMed database of the National Library of Medicine. For health literacy, 110 articles out of 361 were initially extracted. Seventy-one keywords out of 1,021 were finally selected after removing repeated keywords and applying pruning. Regarding the use of online health information, 19 articles out of 26 were selected. One hundred forty-four keywords were initially extracted. After removing the repeated keywords, 74 keywords were finally selected. RESULTS: Health literacy was found to be strongly connected with 'Health knowledge, attitudes, practices' and 'Patient education as topic.' 'Computer literacy' had strong connections with 'Internet' and 'Attitude towards computers.' 'Computer literacy' was connected to 'Health literacy,' and was studied according to the parameters 'Attitude towards health' and 'Patient education as topic.' The use of online health information was strongly connected with 'Health knowledge, attitudes, practices,' 'Consumer health information,' 'Patient education as topic,' etc. In the network, 'Computer literacy' was connected with 'Health education,' 'Patient satisfaction,' 'Self-efficacy,' 'Attitude to computer,' etc. CONCLUSIONS: Research on older citizens' health literacy and their use of online health information was conducted together with study of computer literacy, patient education, attitude towards health, health education, patient satisfaction, etc. In particular, self-efficacy was noted as an important keyword. Further research should be conducted to identify the effective outcomes of self-efficacy in the area of interest.
Computer Literacy ; Consumer Health Information ; Education ; Health Education ; Health Literacy* ; Humans ; Internet ; Medical Subject Headings ; National Library of Medicine (U.S.) ; Patient Education as Topic ; Patient Satisfaction

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for measuring nursing information literacy competency, and then to examine the validity and reliability of the instrument. METHODS: The developmental process of the instrument includes construction of a conceptual framework, generation of initial items, verification of content validity, preliminary study, extraction of final items, and psychometric testing. Its content validity was verified by three experts from nursing and nursing informatics. Its construct, convergent, and discriminant validity was examined in confirmatory factor analysis. Finally, its criterion validity was measured with Pearson's correlation. The tool's reliability was examined by Cronbach's α. The participants include 382 nurses from four hospitals and one university hospital. RESULTS: Twenty seven items in total were selected for the final scale, and the results of the confirmatory factor analysis were supported with acceptable model fit, which were named competency for identifying problem, potential sources for information, searching fine information, evaluating information, acquising and managing of information, using information ethically, and integrating new information. The convergent, discriminant and criterion validities were also supported. The Cronbach's α coefficient was .93. CONCLUSION: The instrument is valid and reliable to comprehensively assess nurses' information literacy competency, and to provide a basic direction for developing nursing information literacy program.
Information Literacy ; Literacy ; Nursing Informatics ; Nursing ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the effects of dietary education experience (home, school, and mass media) on food consumer information literacy. METHODS: The study subjects were 454 adult consumers who answered a structured questionnaire. The questionnaires addressed the subjects' demographics, dietary education experience (home, school, and mass media), and food consumer information literacy. The data were analyzed through frequency analysis, mean, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS Win 24.0. RESULTS: First, the scores of mass media education experience were 3.41 ± 0.64, which was the highest, and 3.15 ± 0.74 for school education experience, which was the lowest. Second, the level of sub-literacies (task definition, information seeking strategy, location and access, use of information, synthesis, and evaluation) showed scores of 3.20 ± 0.72 ~ 3.47 ± 0.68, which were slightly higher than the median. The synthesis literacy was the highest, as opposed to the information seeking strategy literacy, which was the lowest. The location and access and synthesis literacy were higher in women. Third, a significant positive(+) relationship was observed between all sub-literacies and each of three dietary education experiences (home, school and mass media). According to multiple regression analysis, the major variables influencing the sub-literacies of food consumer information literacy were home education, mass media, and school education in that order. CONCLUSIONS: The dietary education experience was the highest through mass media. The factor that showed the highest food consumer information literacy was synthesis. The factors influencing the food consumer information literacy were dietary education experience through home, school, and mass media.
Adult ; Demography ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Information Literacy ; Literacy ; Mass Media

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine (1) the patterns of online health information search with respect to seeking and scanning, and (2) how online search, along with eHealth literacy, predicts perceived information usefulness in the context of diet and weight control. METHODS: Online survey was conducted with 299 adults from the consumer panel recruited for the purpose of quality assessment of the Korean National Health Information Portal in 2016. We conducted paired sample t-test and multiple logistic regression to address the research questions. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics ver. 24.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and SAS ver. 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). RESULTS: Of the respondents, 38.8% were ‘high seek-high scanners,’ 35.8% were ‘low seek-low scanners,’ 13.0% were ‘high seek-low scanners,’ and 12.4% were ‘low seek-high scanners.’ eHealth literacy was a significant, positive predictor of online information scanning (odds ratio [OR], 2.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41–4.29), but not for online information seeking (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.00–3.05). With respect to perceived usefulness of online information seeking, online seeking (OR, 4.90; 95% CI, 2.19–11.00) and eHealth literacy (OR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.11–4.75) were significant predictors. Perceived usefulness of online scanning had a significant association with online scanning (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.08–5.22), but not with eHealth literacy. CONCLUSION: To increase the effectiveness of the health policy for online information search and related outcomes in the context of diet and weight control, it is important to develop education programs promoting eHealth literacy.
Adult ; Diet ; Education ; Health Policy ; Humans ; Information Seeking Behavior ; Literacy ; Logistic Models ; Statistics as Topic ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Telemedicine ; Weight Loss

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to elucidate clinical nurses' ethics germane to information literacy and perception of patient data privacy and thus help nurses to develop more positive and consolidated ethical values. METHODS: For this study a descriptive survey design was used. Participants were 142 nurses who worked in a hospital and completed self-report questionnaires. Data were collected from August 1 to 5, 2016 and were analyzed using independent t-test, ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression with SPSS 22.0. RESULTS: Ethical value had a positive correlation with information needs (r=.25, p=.002) in information literacy as well as in direct patient care (r=.27, p=.001), shift work (r=.20, p=.016), patient information management (r=.39, p<.001), and communication (r=.24, p=.004) in perception of patient data privacy. Patient information management, educational background, and age were significant variables predicting the level of ethical values and accounted for 21% of the variance. CONCLUSION: Ethical values education with particular emphasize on managing patient information should be encouraged for nurses who are younger and have a lower education level. Findings indicate a need for education programs to guide clinical nurses to utilize appropriate information when solving ethical challenges in every day nursing practice.
Confidentiality* ; Education ; Ethics ; Humans ; Information Literacy* ; Information Management ; Nursing ; Patient Care

INTRODUCTIONBell's palsy is a well-recognised disease with robust research on its possible aetiologies and epidemiology, but scant information on patients' concerns and concepts regarding the condition is available. We aimed to evaluate the ideas, concerns and expectations of patients with Bell's palsy in Singapore.

METHODSA cross-sectional study was conducted at a single tertiary-care hospital in Singapore. Participants were all patients with newly diagnosed Bell's palsy referred to the otolaryngology department either from the emergency department or by general practitioners. Participants were given a self-administered questionnaire and their facial nerve palsies were graded by the consultant doctor.

RESULTSA total of 52 patients were recruited, of which 41 were available for analysis. 78.0% of patients were concerned that they were having a stroke upon presentation of the symptoms. Other beliefs about the cause of the disease included overwork or stress (36.6%), something that the patient had eaten (9.8%) and supernatural forces (2.4%). About 50% of patients had tried some form of complementary or alternative therapy other than the steroids/medicines prescribed by their general practitioner or emergency physician. While 39.0% of patients agreed that the Internet had helped them understand more about their condition in addition to the information provided by the physician, 9.8% of them specifically disagreed with this statement.

CONCLUSIONWe have found that patients with Bell's palsy in Singapore are not very knowledgeable about the disease. Although the Internet is a useful resource, a physician's explanation of the disease and its natural progression remains of utmost importance.

Access to Information ; Bell Palsy ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; psychology ; therapy ; Complementary Therapies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Facial Nerve ; physiopathology ; Facial Paralysis ; complications ; therapy ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Health Literacy ; Humans ; Internet ; Patient Education as Topic ; Singapore ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of an evidence-based nursing (EBN) course using action learning-based team learning in undergraduate nursing students. METHODS: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was employed. The participants who consented were 45 second-year nursing students (22 in the experimental, 23 in the control group) from a university in G-city, Korea. The intervention included lectures, practicals, team activities and reflection on overviewing EBN, formulating clinical questions, searching the evidence, and criticizing the research articles. At the beginning and the end of the 7-week EBN course, the participants completed self-reported questionnaires. Frequencies, chi2-test, t-test, and ANCOVA with the SPSS program 18.0, were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The experimental group showed significantly higher scores on EBN competency (F=25.80, p<001), information literacy (F=13.75, p=.001), and proactivity in problem solving (F=5.32, p=.026) than the control group. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that an EBN course improves undergraduate nursing students' EBN competencies, information literacy, and proactivity in problem solving. Team learning in EBN education can be an effective teaching strategy.
Education ; Evidence-Based Nursing* ; Humans ; Information Literacy ; Korea ; Learning* ; Lectures ; Nursing ; Problem Solving ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Students, Nursing*