Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: May 6, 2023
Date Accepted: Mar 12, 2024
Comparison of Self-Tracking Health Practices, eHealth literacy, and Subjective Well-Being between College Students with and without Disabilities: Cross-Sectional Survey
ABSTRACT
Background:
College students with disabilities need to transition from pediatric-centered care to adult care. However, they may become overwhelmed by multiple responsibilities, such as academic activities, peer relationships, career preparation, job seeking, independent living, as well as managing their health and promoting healthy behaviors.
Objective:
As the use of smartphones and wearable devices for collecting personal health data becomes popular, this study aims to compare the characteristics of self-tracking health practices between college students with disabilities and their counterparts. In addition, this study examines the relationships between disability status, self-tracking health practices, eHealth literacy, and subjective well-being among college students.
Methods:
The web-based questionnaire was designed using the Qualtrics for the online survey. The survey data was collected from February 2023 and April 2023 and included responses from 702 participants.
Results:
More than 80% of the respondents participated voluntarily in self-tracking health practices. The college students with disabilities (n = 83) showed significantly lower levels of eHealth literacy and subjective well-being compared to the college students without disabilities (n = 619). The group with disabilities reported significantly lower satisfaction (t = -5.97, P <.001) and perceived efficacy (t = -4.85 p <.001) when using smartphone health apps and wearable devices. Finally, the study identified a significant correlation between subjective well-being in college students and disability status (ꞵ = 3.81, P < .001), self-tracking health practices (ꞵ = 2.22, P < .05), and eHealth literacy (ꞵ = 24.29, P < .001).
Conclusions:
This study alerts the assumption that younger people will readily adopt and efficiently use technology for health management. It is important to closely examine young individuals' ability to utilize technology for actual health management. Given their lack of eHealth literacy skills, it is crucial for health educators in campus settings to provide personalized health consultations for both college students with and without disabilities to enhance the effective utilization of self-tracking health technology.
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Copyright
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