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Effect of Digital Symptom-Checker Education on Appropriate Use of Online Symptom-Checking Tools among University Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Digital symptom-checking tools are increasingly being used to provide users with preliminary health information by allowing them to enter symptoms and receive possible explanations, health guidance, or recommendations regarding appropriate care. University students in Nigeria may increasingly use online symptom-checkers because of their accessibility, convenience, privacy, and widespread availability through websites, mobile applications, and digital health platforms. However, inappropriate reliance on symptom-checking tools may lead to self-diagnosis, unnecessary anxiety, delayed professional medical consultation, inappropriate self-treatment, or failure to recognize serious health conditions. Limited understanding of the capabilities and limitations of digital symptom-checkers may therefore affect how appropriately students use these tools. Digital symptom-checker education provides an opportunity to improve students' knowledge of the appropriate role, limitations, and safe use of online symptom-checking tools. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of digital symptom-checker education on appropriate use of online symptom-checking tools among university students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Technology Acceptance Model, Health Belief Model, and Health Literacy Theory. The Technology Acceptance Model explains how perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of digital symptom-checking tools may influence students' adoption and utilization of these technologies. The Health Belief Model explains how students' perceptions of susceptibility to illness, perceived severity of health conditions, perceived benefits of appropriate symptom checking, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence their health-information and healthcare-seeking behaviours. Health Literacy Theory emphasizes the ability of students to obtain, understand, evaluate, and appropriately use health information when making health-related decisions. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how digital symptom-checker education may influence the appropriate use of online symptom-checking tools among university students in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate students enrolled in selected public and private universities in Nigeria who have access to smartphones or internet-enabled devices. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties, departments, academic levels, and eligible students. Digital symptom-checker education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to symptom-checker education sessions, frequency and duration of education, knowledge of the purpose of symptom-checking tools, understanding of their limitations, awareness that symptom-checkers do not replace professional diagnosis, knowledge of appropriate symptom entry, awareness of emergency warning signs, understanding of appropriate interpretation of results, knowledge of reputable digital health platforms, awareness of privacy considerations, and knowledge of when professional medical care should be sought. Appropriate use of online symptom-checking tools will be assessed using indicators such as entering symptoms accurately, using reputable symptom-checking platforms, avoiding reliance on symptom-checker results as a definitive diagnosis, recognizing situations requiring urgent medical attention, seeking professional healthcare when recommended, avoiding inappropriate self-medication based solely on online results, using symptom-checkers as preliminary information tools, considering relevant personal health information when appropriate, and avoiding repeated or excessive checking that may create unnecessary anxiety. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, digital health literacy assessment tools, symptom-checker knowledge instruments, scenario-based appropriate-use tests, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental intervention is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, digital technology use, previous experience with symptom-checkers, sources of online health information, and patterns of symptom-checker utilization. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of digital symptom-checker education on appropriate use of online symptom-checking tools. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, appropriate-use scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that digital symptom-checker education has a significant positive effect on the appropriate use of online symptom-checking tools among university students in Nigeria. Students exposed to structured and practical education are expected to demonstrate greater understanding of the purpose and limitations of symptom-checkers and use them more appropriately than students without comparable exposure. Education may improve students' ability to enter symptoms accurately, interpret results cautiously, recognize emergency warning signs, avoid self-diagnosis, and seek professional medical attention when necessary. Practical demonstrations using realistic symptom scenarios may further improve students' ability to distinguish between situations where online symptom-checking may provide preliminary information and situations requiring direct professional assessment. However, excessive confidence in digital technologies, inaccurate symptom-checker results, limited access to qualified healthcare providers, online misinformation, privacy concerns, and students' preference for convenient self-care may reduce the effectiveness of education alone. The study therefore expects continuous, practical, accessible, and culturally appropriate digital symptom-checker education, supported by reliable digital health platforms and accessible professional healthcare services, to contribute significantly to improved and safer use of online symptom-checking tools among university students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on digital health, symptom-checking technologies, digital health literacy, online health-information seeking, healthcare utilization, health education, technology-assisted healthcare, university student health, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Education, universities, university health services, digital health providers, healthcare professionals, public health practitioners, technology developers, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for promoting appropriate use of digital health technologies. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating digital symptom-checker education into university health-promotion programmes, strengthening digital health literacy, promoting responsible use of online health technologies, improving awareness of emergency warning signs, encouraging appropriate professional consultation, and developing sustainable digital health education programmes for university students across Nigeria.

Keywords: Digital symptom-checker education, online symptom-checking tools, appropriate use, university students, digital health literacy, online health information, healthcare-seeking behaviour, health education, digital health, Nigeria, public health.