Associated factors and mediating effects on traditional Chinese medicine health information literacy in undergraduate nursing students.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current status and associated factors of health information literacy in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) among undergraduate nursing students and explore the mediating effects of these factors, with the aim of providing empirical evidence for optimizing the reform plan of TCM nursing curriculum. METHODS: From November 2023 to December 2024, 215 undergraduate nursing students were selected as the research subjects and investigated using a general information questionnaire, the Health information literacy scale in TCM, and the scale of autonomous learning competencies of nursing undergraduates. RESULTS: The overall scores of health information literacy in TCM of undergraduate nursing students was (122.68 ± 33.41). Among the average scores of each dimension, the scores for information morality and cognitive ability of health preserving information in TCM were relatively high, while the scores for retrieving ability of health preserving information in TCM, evaluation ability of health preserving information in TCM and application ability of health preserving information in TCM were in the lower range. The factors associated with health information literacy in TCM were the students' place of residence, autonomous learning competency, and having access to reliable TCM health information (p < 0.05), which collectively explained 85.7% of the total variance. Both recognition and attention to TCM, as well as having access to reliable TCM health information, played a mediating role between the students' place of residence and their health information literacy in TCM (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The health information literacy in TCM of undergraduate nursing students is associated with multiple factors, particularly their place of residence, autonomous learning competencies, and the availability of reliable health information in TCM. Universities should strengthen the cultivation of nursing undergraduates' abilities to obtain and evaluate health information and optimize educational strategies for TCM nursing.