Gender, education, and digital generations as determinants of attitudes toward health information for health workers in West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Health information is a commodity heavily sought by Indonesians because of the increasing consciousness of a healthy lifestyle. However, the circulation of health information is consistently disrupted by misinformation and disinformation, particularly on social media and chatting platforms such as WhatsApp. Identified misinformation and disinformation can be found on the official web page run by the Ministry of Communication and Information (https://trustpositif.kominfo.go.id/). Digital information exchange often involves health care workers; they are considered a credible source of health information. The purpose of this study was to delineate the attitudes of health care workers toward health information, determined by gender, educational attainment, and age differences. Health information in this study was information circulated on WhatsApp. We divided the age differences into four digital generations: baby boomers and Generations X, Y, and Z. We used the t-test and analysis of education and age differences when using the analysis of variance to demonstrate the differences among determinants factors of respondents—617 health care workers in West Java—in using WhatsApp when receiving and sharing health information. The results support that attitudes toward health information are determined by education attainment and differences in generation and that gender differences have no effect.