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The Use of Internet for Seeking Health Information Among Narh-Bita College Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Received: 4 December 2020    Accepted: 11 December 2020    Published: 8 May 2021
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Abstract

The Internet provides information on a variety of subjects including health-related information. Access to Internet health information could potentially promote healthy adolescents' lifestyles. Consequently, this may reduce the number of common illness among the youth and thereby reducing the overall cases at health centers. This study was carried out to examine the use of Internet for seeking health information among Narh-Bita College students, Tema, Ghana. The study was a quantitative cross-sectional survey with a convenience sampling method. The study covered one hundred and sixty-one (161) students. The results revealed that the students were active users of the Internet and majority of them were using the Internet for seeking health information. The findings of the study also showed that the surveyed students considered obtained Internet health information useful. In addition, the participants confirmed that obtaining Internet health information had improved the way they took care of themselves. The results further revealed that health information obtained from the Internet was having influence on the students with regards to their interactions with health care providers and their medical decision-making. The study therefore concludes that students of higher education of learning are active Internet users as well as high consumers of Internet health information despite the fact that advanced searching skills among the sampled students seemed problematic. Hence, the study recommends that electronic searching training sessions should be organized on regular basis for the students in addiction to making e-health information easily accessible to all.

Published in American Journal of Information Science and Technology (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajist.20210502.11
Page(s) 19-24
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Internet Use, Health Information, On-line Health Information, College Students, Narh-Bita College

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Zakaria Abukari. (2021). The Use of Internet for Seeking Health Information Among Narh-Bita College Students: A Cross-sectional Study. American Journal of Information Science and Technology, 5(2), 19-24. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajist.20210502.11

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    ACS Style

    Zakaria Abukari. The Use of Internet for Seeking Health Information Among Narh-Bita College Students: A Cross-sectional Study. Am. J. Inf. Sci. Technol. 2021, 5(2), 19-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ajist.20210502.11

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    AMA Style

    Zakaria Abukari. The Use of Internet for Seeking Health Information Among Narh-Bita College Students: A Cross-sectional Study. Am J Inf Sci Technol. 2021;5(2):19-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ajist.20210502.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajist.20210502.11,
      author = {Zakaria Abukari},
      title = {The Use of Internet for Seeking Health Information Among Narh-Bita College Students: A Cross-sectional Study},
      journal = {American Journal of Information Science and Technology},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {19-24},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajist.20210502.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajist.20210502.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajist.20210502.11},
      abstract = {The Internet provides information on a variety of subjects including health-related information. Access to Internet health information could potentially promote healthy adolescents' lifestyles. Consequently, this may reduce the number of common illness among the youth and thereby reducing the overall cases at health centers. This study was carried out to examine the use of Internet for seeking health information among Narh-Bita College students, Tema, Ghana. The study was a quantitative cross-sectional survey with a convenience sampling method. The study covered one hundred and sixty-one (161) students. The results revealed that the students were active users of the Internet and majority of them were using the Internet for seeking health information. The findings of the study also showed that the surveyed students considered obtained Internet health information useful. In addition, the participants confirmed that obtaining Internet health information had improved the way they took care of themselves. The results further revealed that health information obtained from the Internet was having influence on the students with regards to their interactions with health care providers and their medical decision-making. The study therefore concludes that students of higher education of learning are active Internet users as well as high consumers of Internet health information despite the fact that advanced searching skills among the sampled students seemed problematic. Hence, the study recommends that electronic searching training sessions should be organized on regular basis for the students in addiction to making e-health information easily accessible to all.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    T1  - The Use of Internet for Seeking Health Information Among Narh-Bita College Students: A Cross-sectional Study
    AU  - Zakaria Abukari
    Y1  - 2021/05/08
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajist.20210502.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajist.20210502.11
    T2  - American Journal of Information Science and Technology
    JF  - American Journal of Information Science and Technology
    JO  - American Journal of Information Science and Technology
    SP  - 19
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    AB  - The Internet provides information on a variety of subjects including health-related information. Access to Internet health information could potentially promote healthy adolescents' lifestyles. Consequently, this may reduce the number of common illness among the youth and thereby reducing the overall cases at health centers. This study was carried out to examine the use of Internet for seeking health information among Narh-Bita College students, Tema, Ghana. The study was a quantitative cross-sectional survey with a convenience sampling method. The study covered one hundred and sixty-one (161) students. The results revealed that the students were active users of the Internet and majority of them were using the Internet for seeking health information. The findings of the study also showed that the surveyed students considered obtained Internet health information useful. In addition, the participants confirmed that obtaining Internet health information had improved the way they took care of themselves. The results further revealed that health information obtained from the Internet was having influence on the students with regards to their interactions with health care providers and their medical decision-making. The study therefore concludes that students of higher education of learning are active Internet users as well as high consumers of Internet health information despite the fact that advanced searching skills among the sampled students seemed problematic. Hence, the study recommends that electronic searching training sessions should be organized on regular basis for the students in addiction to making e-health information easily accessible to all.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 2
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Author Information
  • Narh-Bita College Library, Narh-Bita College, Tema, Ghana

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