SEARCH ARTICLE

03 Pages : 17-25

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2022(VII-I).03      10.31703/gssr.2022(VII-I).03      Published : Mar 2022

Virtual Disparities and Educational Divide as Determinants of Online Health Literacy: A Cross-sectional Study of University Students in Lahore

    The study assumes that students belonging to diverse educational levels were dissimilar in the level of practicing and competence in online health literacy. The survey method used a questionnaire to measure the responses of students of 16 universities in Lahore, Pakistan. A sample of 1512 students was selected by using a 4-stage stratified cluster sampling strategy. Data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis H test, Dunn test, and Mann-Whitney Utest (non-parametric). The findings show that educational level does have a significant association with practicing level in online health literacy (P.Value.0041). Moreover, education level also has a significant association with competence level in online health literacy (P. Value.045). The study recommends that online health literacy should be encouraged among the students, and the universities should be well-equipped with adequate hardware and human resources to facilitate the students.

    Online Health Literacy, Educational Divide, Universities, Virtual Disparities
    (1) Adnan Adil
    Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan.
    (2) Ayesha Siddiqa Bugvi
    Lecturer, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
    (3) Rahla Rahat
    Assistant Professor, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.