Electronic Physician (ISSN: 2008-5842) http://www.ephysician.ir
May 2018, Volume: 10, Issue: 5, Pages: 6796-6802, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.19082/6796
Corresponding author:
Assistant Professor Dr. Ali Valinejadi, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, School of Allied Medical
Sciences, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
Tel: +9823-33614664, Fax: +9823-33614664, Email: valinejadi.a@semums.ac.ir
Received: January 01, 2018, Accepted: March 10, 2018, Published: May 2018
iThenticate screening: March 11, 2018, English editing: April 13, 2018, Quality control: April 15, 2018
This article has been reviewed / commented by eight experts
© 2018 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
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Page 6796
A conceptual model of the impacts of quality components of a health department website on students'
health literacy at Semnan University of Medical Sciences
Mehdi Kahouei
1
, Ali Mohammadi
2
, Javad Zarei
3
, Nasrollah Nasr Heidarabadi
4
, Ali Valinejadi
5
1
Ph.D. of Health Information Management, Associate Professor, Social Determinants of Health Research Center,
School of Allied Medical Sciences, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
2
Ph.D. of Health Information Management, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Information Technology,
Paramedical School, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
3
Ph.D. of Health Information Management, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Information Technology,
School of Allied Medical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
4
Ph.D. of Medical Informatics, Department of Information Technology, Shefa Neuroscience Research Center,
Khatam-ol-Anbia Hospital, Tehran Iran
5
Ph.D. of Health Information Management, Assistant Professor, Social Determinants of Health Research Center,
School of Allied Medical Sciences, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
Type of article: Original
Abstract
Background: People with poor health literacy are those who have less knowledge about disease management and
health promotion behaviors, and generally have poorer health status.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of qualitative components of the health website of
Semnan University of Medical Sciences on the students’ health literacy.
Methods: This study was performed on 529 medical and allied health students in schools affiliated to Semnan
University of Medical Sciences, Iran in 2016-2017. A researcher-made questionnaire and standard questionnaire
were used. Descriptive statistics and regression test were used by SPSS 19 to analyze data in significance level of
0.01.
Results: The findings showed that there were poor relationships between communications in the health website
and health literacy (R
2
=0.265, B=0.50), between understanding of concepts in the health website and health
literacy (R
2
=0.259, B=0.38) and patient centeredness in the health website and health literacy (R
2
=0.241,
B=0.30).
Conclusion: It is concluded that the empowerment of students’ health literacy through the University Health
Department website can be realized when the health department website is used as a tool for learning and the
website is much more active in social marketing in the field of health.
Keywords: Models, Theoretical; Health literacy; Universities; Learning; Students
1. Introduction
The advent of information technology has had profound effects on human life. Perhaps education and learning have
been affected by that more than other areas. Now, everyone can get access to his/her needed information wherever
and whenever they wish (1). The World Wide Web, as one of the most prominent communication and information
technologies, represents the technological advancement of today's human being; their role in making social changes
is undeniable (2). One reason for using the World Wide Web is to achieve information of health services. People
promote their literacy in the field of health issues through the Internet (3). Health literacy represents the link