E-Health Awareness, Use and Association with Health Seeking Behavior among Students of Non-Health Related Courses in Enugu, South East Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The current trend in global modernization has enabled consumers to turn to the internet via electronic devices to gain information on many issues including health. There is scarcity of literature on the awareness and use of e-health services in low income countries such as Nigeria.

Aim: This study explored the knowledge, use and factors that affect the use of e-health amongst undergraduates of non-health related courses and the influence of use on health-seeking behavior.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study of three tertiary institutions of learning in Enugu state, Nigeria. Respondents from the institutions were selected by Multistage Sampling. Data analysis was both descriptive and inferential at 95% confidence level. A p value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Respondents were mostly young (15-20 years, 42.2% and 21-25years, 42.5%); there were more males than females (58% vs 42%) while almost all (96.6%) of them were single. The result showed that almost all (379, 93%) respondents knew they could access the internet for health information. 244/379 (64.4%) reported good knowledge of e-health, while knowledge was poor in 135/379 (35.6%) of the respondents. E-health awareness was not significantly associated with age, sex, marital status, course of study or monthly allowance. Availability of data for browsing was the greatest factor reported by half (52%) of the respondents to affect their use of e-health services. A good number (61.2%) felt that e-health usage had gotten them more informed on health while 67.3% of them agreed that e-health information had increased their eagerness to seek health care.

Conclusions: Awareness of e-health is high among undergraduates and e-health usage may have a positive effect on health seeking behavior.