A Study on the e-Health Literacy and Attitudes toward the Elderly of University Students Majoring in Health and Welfare in Busan and Gyeongsang Province

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the e-health literacy and attitudes toward the elderly of university students majoring in health and welfare in Busan and Gyeongsang province, e-health literacy and attitudes toward the elderly according to general characteristics. Methods : From November 30, 2024 to December 11 of the same year, a survey on e-health literacy and attitudes toward the elderly was conducted for the university students majoring in health and welfare in Busan and Gyeongsang province. An online survey was conducted using Google, and a total of 120 data were used for result analysis. For data analysis, frequency analysis and descriptive statistics, Independent t-test, One-way ANOVA were conducted using the SPSS 25.0 program. Post-test was conducted with the Scheffé test for significant items. Results : The average of the total score of e-health literacy among college students was 3.91±0.57 points, which was above average, and functional e-health literacy was the highest, followed by communicative and critical literacy. The average of the total score of attitudes toward the elderly was 3.08±0.45 points, which was evaluated as normal. The e-health literacy showed significant differences according to self-perceived health status, health interest, health management time, and volunteer work experience for the elderly(p<0.05). Attitudes toward the elderly showed significant differences according to self-perceived health conditions (p<0.01), and attitude scores were higher when they thought they were 'healthy' or 'very healthy' than the group who thought they were 'unhealthy'. Conclusion : Based on this study, various education and programs that can improve e-health literacy and attitudes toward the elderly should be discussed in order to cultivate university students as health and welfare-related experts who can contribute to the community.