The Effect of Obtaining and Confirming Health Information on Digital Media upon Health Communication Problems

This research aims to support and confirm health information in the digital environment and to examine the effects on health problems. The population of the research consists of a total of 1,525 students studying at the Faculty of Health Sciences (Health Management), Faculty of Communication (Radio, Television and Cinema), and Faculty of Technology (Computer Engineering). The research, the creation of the necessary population, and the calculations were carried out with 334 students. In the study, "Obtaining and Confirming Health Information in Digital Environment During Infodemic" was used to measure information acquisition and confirmation behaviors, and "Healthcare Communication Problems" scale was used to evaluate health communication problems. Both scales successfully passed validity and reliability tests, and Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficients were found to be 0.758 and 0.880, respectively. The data were analyzed in the SPSS software package. According to the analysis, 69.8% of them use Instagram, one of the social media platforms; 37.1% apply to the health sector on average 3-5 times a year; and 58.7% spend an average of 4-7 hours a day on the internet. Additionally, there was a significant difference between health probems and age. A significant difference was detected between communication problems and disruptions. According to the content of the research, there was a positive and significant relationship between the provision and verification of digital resilience, health information, and health problems. In addition, there are scenarios where participation and connections in providing health information in the digital environment positively predict the verification work.