Health Information-Seeking Behaviour, Source Trust And Health-Preparedness Awareness Among University Students In Bengaluru: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The increasing availability of digital health information has changed how university students seek, evaluate and share information related to health. This study examined health-information-seeking behaviour, trust in different health-information sources and health-preparedness awareness among 200 university students aged 18 years and above in Bengaluru, Karnataka. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire covering demographic characteristics, health-information-seeking behaviour, source trust and preparedness awareness. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling, with voluntary participation and informed consent. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, Cronbach's alpha and Spearman's rank-order correlation. Internet search engines (82.0%) and social media (75.5%) were the most frequently used sources of health information, whereas healthcare professionals (4.28 &plusmn; 0.78) and scientific/medical journals (4.17 &plusmn; 0.83) received the highest trust scores. The mean total preparedness-awareness score was 30.74 &plusmn; 5.21 on a possible range of 8&ndash;40. The three study domains demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha values ranging from .81 to .86. Information-seeking behaviour was positively associated with preparedness awareness (&rho; = .42, p < .001), while source trust (&rho; = .35, p < .001) and information-verification behaviour (&rho; = .48, p < .001) also showed significant positive associations with preparedness awareness. The findings indicate that although university students frequently rely on digital sources for health information, they place greater trust in professional and scientific sources. Strengthening students' abilities to evaluate, verify and appropriately use health information may therefore contribute to improved behavioural public-health preparedness.