SEARCHCROSS-SECTIONALpublic health, epidemiology

cross-sectional·public health, epidemiology, pediatrics, family medicine, observational study·PMC10490915

Cross-sectional study on public health knowledge among first-year university students in Japan: Implications for educators and educational institutions

PLOS ONE · 13 authors, 9 centres

AI SUMMARY

FIDELITY 100%

POPULATIONFirst-year university students (n=549 respondents from 1,562 invited) from medical, health-related, and liberal arts colleges at a private university in Japan.

INTERVENTIONSelf-administered electronic survey assessing self-reported public health knowledge, sources of information, and self-assessment of knowledge levels.

COMPARISONComparison between colleges/programs indicating different career paths.

This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.

AGENT 01 · STRUCTURED SUMMARY

TRACE TO SOURCE

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TL;DR

This cross-sectional study surveyed first-year Japanese university students to assess their self-reported public health knowledge before specialized education. It found significant knowledge gaps, especially in sexual health, and overreliance on misinformation sources, with differences observed by gender.

Full summary

1,045 CHARS

This cross-sectional study surveyed first-year students (549 respondents from 1,562 invited) at a Japanese private university via an electronic questionnaire from April to May 2021. The survey assessed self-reported knowledge of 11 basic public health topics, sources of information, and self-assessed knowledge levels before specialized education. Results showed students reported limited knowledge, particularly in sexual health topics, with 10% reporting they had not learned about 11 specific topics in school before university. The study identified significant knowledge gaps, reliance on potentially biased information sources, and gender differences in knowledge. Limitations include the single-university sample, use of a non-validated questionnaire, self-reported data which may be inaccurate, potential non-representative respondents, and conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may affect generalizability. The findings imply a need to supplement foundational public health knowledge for healthcare majors at university admission.

PICO

PPOPULATION

First-year university students (n=549 respondents from 1,562 invited) from medical, health-related, and liberal arts colleges at a private university in Japan.

IINTERVENTION

Self-administered electronic survey assessing self-reported public health knowledge, sources of information, and self-assessment of knowledge levels.

OOUTCOME

Self-reported knowledge levels across basic public health topics, sources of information, and gender differences.

STUDY TYPE

cross-sectional

SPECIALTY

public health

SUMMARISED BY

AI pipeline

FIDELITY CHECK

100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10490915

Cross-sectional study on public health knowledge among first-year university students in Japan: Implications for educators and educational institutions

PLOS ONE

READ THE FULL PAPER

ABSTRACT

In recent years, there have been increasing knowledge gaps and biases in public health information. This has become especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic and has contributed to the spread of misinformation. With constant exposure to disinformation and misinformation through television, the internet, and social media, even university students studying healthcare-related subjects lack accurate public health knowledge. This study aimed to assess university students’ knowledge levels of basic public health topics before they started their specialized education. Participants in this cross-sectional study were first-year students from medical schools, health-related colleges, and liberal arts colleges. A self-administered electronic survey was conducted from April to May 2021 at a private university in Japan, comprising six colleges with seven programs. Data analysis, conducted from June to December 2022, included students’ self-reported public health knowledge, sources of information, and self-assessment of knowledge levels. Among the 1,562 students who received the questionnaire, 549 (192 male [35%], 353 female [64.3%], and 4 undisclosed [0.7%]) responded to one question (participants’ response rate for each question; 59.6%–100%). The results showed that students had limited public health knowledge, especially in sexual health topics, and 10% of students reported not learning in class before university admission the following 11 topics: two on Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs; eight on Growth, Development, and Sexual Health; and one on Personal and Community Health. These results indicate significant knowledge gaps and biases, as well as gender gaps, in public health education, especially in the area of sexual health, which may help educators and educational institutions to better understand and prepare for further specialized education. The findings also suggest a need to supplement and reinforce the foundation of public health knowledge for healthcare majors at the time of university admission.

CITATION EXPORT

Miwa Sekine, David Aune, Shuko Nojiri et al.. Cross-sectional study on public health knowledge among first-year university students in Japan: Implications for educators and educational institutions. PLOS ONE. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291414

AUTHORS

13 · 9 CENTRES

Miwa Sekine, David Aune, Shuko Nojiri, Makino Watanabe, Yuko Nakanishi, Shinobu Sakurai, Tomomi Iwashimizu, Yasuaki Sakano, Tetsuya Takahashi, Yuji Nishizaki, Amos Buh, Amos Buh, Amos Buh

1 Division of Medical Education, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
2 Medical Technology Innovation Center, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
3 Department of Physiology, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
4 Juntendo University School of Health and Sport Science, Chiba, Japan
5 Department of Public Health Nursing, Juntendo University, Faculty of Healthcare and Nursing, Chiba, Japan
6 Juntendo University School of Health Sciences and Nursing, Shizuoka, Japan
7 Department of Radiological Technology, Juntendo University Faculty of Health Science, Tokyo, Japan
8 Department of Physical Therapy, Juntendo University Faculty of Health Science, Tokyo, Japan
University of Ottawa, CANADA

EDITOR / REVIEWER

Amos Buh