Attitude of Nursing and Medical Students toward Sharing Personal Health Information under the Revised Data Protection Acts

Abstract

Massive amount of health data is being generated through various types of wearable devices. Recently, the ‘Revised Data Protection Acts’ related to utilizing personal health information by third parties were enacted to facilitate sharing and reusing personal health information while securing data privacy. This study explored the attitudes of undergraduate and graduate nursing and medical students toward using and sharing their health data and their understanding of the related laws. A 19-question survey was given to nursing and medical students at a university in Seoul from August to October 2021. A total of 377 students participated in the survey. Most participants (80.6%) had past or current experience collecting Patient-Generated Health Data (PGHD). More than half of the participants (62.6%) thought health care provider should use their PGHD. Three-quarters (75.1%) of the participants were willing to share their de-identified health data with a third party. They were more willing to share their data for research (97.5%) but less for marketing (27.6%). The most significant reason not to share PGHD was the lack of trust in legal recourse for abuse or misuse of their personal health information. Most participants thought they owned their PGHD (92.6%) and were responsible for their data management (85.7%). On the recently enacted ‘Revised Data Protection Acts’ related to utilizing personal health information by third-party, only 6.4% of the participants were fully aware of the law. Most participants did not know the changes in the Revised Data Acts, which calls for continued education and publicity about the details of these laws. Understanding the expectations and demands of the public for sharing and using personal health information is crucial to supplement the policy on privacy as necessary.