A survey of how college students interact with campus health centers shows a majority of students like the idea of storing health information online.
Jon Englund, founding executive director of the Center for Student Health and Life, which created the survey, said 56 percent of respondents liked the idea of having health records stored online for convenience and ease of access.
He said the center wanted the results of its first survey, "Improving Student Health," to represent students from universities and colleges of different sizes in different regions.
According to CSHAL's Web site, Ball State University, Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame were among the 31 schools to participate.
CSHAL invited students to take the 15-question survey through Facebook, Englund said; 505 students responded within one month.
"We were very pleased with getting more than 500," Englund said. "We could have gotten 1,000 or more had we kept the Facebook invitation up for a longer period of time or by expanding the number of schools, but once we hit 500 responses from 31 diverse schools, you have to stop somewhere."
In response to the survey, he said, CSHAL would organize focus groups and produce more online surveys to probe the benefits of electronic storage of records.
The survey also asked students to rate how they believe they manage diet, exercise, stress and relationships.
Survey results show 27.5 percent of students think they manage stress poorly or very poorly; 29 percent of students feel the same about managing exercise time.
Kent Bullis, medical director of the Amelia T. Wood Health Center, said CSHAL's findings were not much of a surprise.
"I spend a substantial amount of my time dealing with students and mental health issues, specifically anxiety or depression," Bullis said.
According to survey data on the CSHAL Web site, there is a notable correlation between exercise habits and stress levels, but the findings need to be explored further.
Bullis said he often asks students about their physical activity when they visit the Health Center.
"We point out there are a wide variety of physical recreation services available on campus," he said.
Survey resultsResults from a CSHAL survey reveal student opinions on health.
- 56 percent were comfortable with online health records
- 27.5 percent think they manage stress poorly
- 29 percent think they do not exercise enough
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