Therapeutic Research

Abstract

Although the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare demonstrated high public interest in health in 2014, it is unclear whether many people have accurate knowledge of health and medical care. To clarify non‒healthcare students’ levels of such knowledge, and discuss related challenges and improvements, we conducted a questionnaire survey involving 518 university students who belonged to departments other that those training healthcare professionals. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions to be answered by selecting from options and in a free‒description style. Analysis of responses revealed that the students did not have sufficient general knowledge of health or medical care. Furthermore, their level of knowledge of medical care was lower than that of health. Now that the Internet and social networking services have made a lot of information available, it is important to promote information literacy and health education for university students to avoid misinformation.