Nursing Students in Palestine Link Confidence in AI to E-Health Literacy

A cross-sectional survey of 113 third- and fourth-year nursing students in Palestine found that confidence in AI use was associated with stronger self-reported e-health literacy. Published in PLOS Digital Health, the study measured an association at one point in time; it does not establish that nursing students in Palestine link confidence in AI to stronger digital health skills through cause and effect.

The researchers examined whether students’ attitudes toward AI were associated with their perceived ability to find, assess and use health information online. The study describes a relationship between the two measures at one point in time. It does not show that favorable AI views cause stronger digital health skills, or that digital skills produce more favorable views.

How Nursing Students in Palestine Link Confidence in AI to E-Health Literacy

The team paired the eight-item eHealth Literacy Scale, known as eHEALS, with a 28-item questionnaire adapted from technology-acceptance research. The AI questionnaire covered seven areas, including perceived usefulness, ease of use, facilitating conditions and anxiety. Researchers reverse-scored negatively worded items where required.

Students’ mean eHEALS score was 3.53, with a standard deviation of 0.59. Their overall AI-related perceptions score averaged 3.35, with a standard deviation of 0.34. The source describes both results as moderate to positive.

Across the two overall measures, the researchers reported a positive Pearson correlation of 0.387. It remained significant after a Holm adjustment, which the study used to account for multiple statistical tests. The association indicates that higher scores tended to appear together in this group; it does not establish why.

Support Conditions Had the Strongest Domain Link

Among the seven AI-perception domains, facilitating conditions had the largest reported correlation with eHEALS: r = 0.450. The study defines this area around whether students believe resources, infrastructure and support are available to make AI usable. That domain-level result also remained significant after Holm correction.

Anxiety showed no significant association with eHEALS. The result does not establish that anxiety never affects digital skills; it reports no significant link in this sample and analysis.

A multiple linear regression adjusted for year of study, perceived Internet skills and the perceived importance of the Internet. Overall AI perceptions remained associated with e-health literacy, with an unstandardized coefficient of 0.643 and a 95 percent confidence interval from 0.289 to 0.998. The model explained roughly 17.7 percent of the variance in eHEALS scores.

For comparisons involving Internet use, only perceived usefulness of the Internet remained significant after Holm correction. The source says this may point to a connection between seeing the web as valuable, AI acceptance and digital health literacy; it does not establish a causal pathway.

One-Time Survey Leaves Direction Unclear

The cross-sectional design captures a single moment, so the researchers could not determine which factor came first. The association does not establish a causal pathway. The authors call for multi-site, longitudinal and intervention studies to investigate the direction of the relationship.

The source also notes low internal consistency in several adapted subscales. That limitation means the domain-level findings, including the result for facilitating conditions, need cautious interpretation. The overall AI-perceptions score and eHEALS measure were described as having firmer support, while the more detailed domain results need replication with refined instruments.

The study offers a baseline from Palestinian nursing education, where the source describes infrastructure challenges and limited access to advanced clinical technology. It does not show that the findings apply to all nursing students or predict clinical performance. The authors’ proposed next step is further research across sites and over time, alongside intervention studies that can test how these measures change.