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Effect of Health Misinformation Literacy Education on Health Information Verification Practices among University Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Health misinformation has become an important public health concern because inaccurate or misleading health information may influence individuals' health decisions, delay appropriate healthcare seeking, encourage unsafe self-treatment, and reduce trust in reliable health services. University students in Nigeria frequently access health information through social media platforms, search engines, messaging applications, websites, and other digital sources, making them increasingly exposed to both reliable health information and misinformation. Limited ability to identify misleading claims, assess information sources, verify evidence, and distinguish credible health information from false or unsupported claims may increase students' vulnerability to health misinformation. Health misinformation literacy education provides an opportunity to develop students' skills in evaluating health claims, identifying unreliable sources, checking evidence, comparing information across credible sources, and verifying health information before accepting or sharing it. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of health misinformation literacy education on health information verification practices among university students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Information Literacy Theory. The Health Belief Model explains how students' perceptions of the risks and consequences of acting on false health information, perceived benefits of verification, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence their information-verification behaviours. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes observational learning, self-efficacy, behavioural modelling, reinforcement, and environmental influences in developing effective health information evaluation practices. Information Literacy Theory emphasizes individuals' ability to identify information needs, locate relevant information, evaluate the credibility and quality of sources, use evidence appropriately, and make informed decisions. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how health misinformation literacy education may influence health information verification practices 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 aged 18 years and above enrolled in selected public and private universities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties or departments, levels of study, and eligible students. Health misinformation literacy education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to educational sessions, frequency and duration of training, ability to identify health misinformation, recognition of misleading headlines and claims, assessment of source credibility, identification of unreliable websites or social media accounts, understanding of scientific evidence, recognition of unsupported health claims, reverse-search or source-checking skills, comparison of information across credible sources, and knowledge of reliable health-information platforms. Health information verification practices will be assessed using indicators such as checking the source of health information, verifying claims with healthcare professionals, consulting official health organizations, comparing information across multiple credible sources, checking publication dates, examining supporting evidence, identifying conflicts of interest, checking original sources or references, avoiding immediate sharing of unverified health information, and correcting or reporting misleading health information where appropriate. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, health misinformation literacy assessment tools, health-information verification scenarios, digital health literacy instruments, and relevant educational programme records. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic characteristics, digital health-information sources, exposure to misinformation, health misinformation literacy levels, and verification practices. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of health misinformation literacy education on health information verification practices. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, health information verification 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 health misinformation literacy education has a significant positive effect on health information verification practices among university students in Nigeria. Students exposed to structured and practical misinformation literacy education are expected to demonstrate greater ability and willingness to verify health information before accepting or sharing it than students without comparable exposure. Education may improve students' ability to recognize misleading health claims, assess the credibility of information sources, identify unsupported statements, examine evidence, compare information from multiple reliable sources, and seek professional advice when necessary. Practical exercises involving real-world examples of health misinformation may strengthen students' confidence and ability to evaluate digital health information critically. However, high exposure to social media content, confirmation bias, peer influence, limited digital literacy, rapid circulation of misleading information, and difficulty accessing credible health information may reduce the effectiveness of education alone. The study therefore expects practical, continuous, and digitally oriented health misinformation literacy education to contribute significantly to improved health information verification practices among university students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on health misinformation, health information literacy, digital health literacy, health information verification, health communication, health education, media literacy, health promotion, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Federal Ministry of Education, universities, healthcare professionals, public health practitioners, digital health organizations, media organizations, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening students' ability to evaluate health information. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating health misinformation literacy into university health education and digital literacy programmes, strengthening students' ability to verify online health claims, promoting the use of credible health-information sources, encouraging responsible health-information sharing, and developing sustainable digital health literacy interventions among university students across Nigeria.

Keywords: Health misinformation literacy education, health information verification practices, university students, health misinformation, digital health literacy, health information literacy, health education, health communication, health promotion, Nigeria, public health.