Digital literacy and educational needs among preventive medicine undergraduates: a cross-sectional study at a Chinese university

Digital literacy (DL) is increasingly recognized as a valuable competency for future healthcare professionals, yet its integration in preventive medicine curricula remains inconsistent. This study examined students’ DL familiarity and competencies to inform curriculum development. A cross-sectional anonymous survey was conducted among fourth- and fifth-year preventive medicine undergraduates at a single site (one institution) in China, Soochow University. A validated 10-item instrument assessed four dimensions: Digital Tool Proficiency, Information Search & Evaluation, Information Security & Privacy, and Digital Health Ethics & Application using a 5-point Likert scale. Confirmatory Factor Analysis validated the structure, and gender comparisons were performed using Fisher’s exact tests and t-tests. Among 188 valid respondents (62.3% response rate), only 3.2% reported being “very familiar” with DL, while 29.8% were unfamiliar. Students showed high proficiency in document editing and basic information search (> 75% agree/strongly agree) but lower competency in data analysis software. Significant gender disparities emerged, with males demonstrating higher confidence in digital tools and information security ( P = 0.006). DL familiarity positively correlated with total scores ( r = 0.291, P < 0.05), and strong inter-dimensional correlations existed ( r = 0.477–0.680, P < 0.001). Preventive medicine curricula may benefit from enhanced DL integration, with particular attention to data analysis skills and digital health applications. Gender-informed teaching strategies warrant further exploration to cater to potential learning preferences. Given this single-site, one-institution design in China, transferability of considerations and recommendations is limited; multi-institutional studies are needed to determine if these patterns represent broader trends in preventive medicine education.