*3.1. Undergraduate Students' Online Health Information-Seeking Behavior Is Mostly Based on Using Nouns as Keywords, with Few Using Boolean Logic Techniques, and Unlimited Scope for Queries*

A skillful use of internet search functions, such as the selection of keywords, application of Boolean logic, and limitation of the query scope, allows users to focus more specifically on the relevant online information during the search process, filtering out unnecessary information. Table 2 shows the status of online health information-seeking behaviors among the undergraduate students surveyed, as well as their actual behaviors. When choosing keywords for their searches, 59% of the participants used nouns as keywords; 43% used nouns, adjectives, and adverbs as common keywords; and 28% used sentences. Regarding the search technique of Boolean logic, only 27% of the participants used the operators "AND", "OR", and "NOT". In terms of limiting the scope of their queries, 12% of the study participants limited the type of data searched, while only 2% limited the date and language of the data retrieved; this indicated a low percentage of users who limit the date, form, and language of information for narrowing down the scope of their searches.


**Table 2.** Current status of health information retrieval behavior among undergraduate students: Information seeking.

#### *3.2. Status of Online Health Information-Seeking Behavior among Undergraduate Students: Information Browsing and Information Sources*

The results showed that the average number of web pages visited by the study participants to determine the adequacy of the information available on a given health topic was 2.99; their overall browsing time was 5.54 min; and the average time they spent on each web page was 2.39 min. Regarding the information source, 81% of the respondents were concerned about the newness of the information and the year of publication. The information sources consulted were mostly "organization websites" (45%) and magazines or periodicals (40%), while news reports (8%), forums and chat rooms (13%), and personal websites (22%) accounted for a minority of the information sources. However, in terms of the professionalism of the data sources, 22% of the users believed that the authors of the data they retrieved were experts in the related fields, and 42% of the data mentioned the author's affiliation; however, 85% of the users found that the authors of the data were anonymous, or believed that they were unprofessional, as shown in Table 3.

**Table 3.** Status of health information retrieval behavior among undergraduate students: Information browsing and information sources.


#### **4. Discussion**

#### *4.1. Is Information Literacy the Missing Part of Health Promotion among Undergraduate Students?*

It was found that most of the keywords used by the participants in the search for health information were nouns, although some did use a mixture of nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Few searched using Boolean logic, and they seldom limited the scope of their queries to narrow down the results, indicating that the undergraduate students had few relevant skills in searching for information.

Information literacy is one of the multiple components of health literacy that adolescents are aware of, encompassing a range of skills and knowledge that are relevant to health behaviors and can reduce health risks [21]. When individuals are familiar with internet search methods, they can easily filter out useful information based on the purpose of the search and the source of the data. Conversely, users who are unfamiliar with these operations are easily distracted by irrelevant information, which affects the accuracy and usefulness of their information judgments. Furthermore, individuals who are exposed to a large amount of online health information and are unable to critique and make good

use of this information may suffer negative effects, leading to feelings of anxiety that can cause emotional distress and even severe cyberchondria [27]. Joseph and Fleary [21] explored adolescents' perceptions of health literacy and revealed that they involved more functional than critical literacy. Criticality involves reading, understanding, and acting upon health information, having potential effects and benefits for individuals and society. This highlights the importance of critical skill development and education for the youth in particular.
