eHealth Literacy: Predictors in a Population With Moderate-to-High Cardiovascular Risk

Richtering, Sarah S; Hyun, Karice; Neubeck, Lis; Coorey, Genevieve; Chalmers, John; Usherwood, Tim; Peiris, David; Chow, Clara K; Redfern, Julie

Abstract

Background: Electronic health (eHealth) literacy is a growing area of research parallel to the ongoing development of eHealth interventions. There is, however, little and conflicting information regarding the factors that influence eHealth literacy, notably in chronic disease. We are similarly ill-informed about the relationship between eHealth and health literacy, 2 related yet distinct health-related literacies.
Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate the demographic, socioeconomic, technology use, and health literacy predictors of eHealth literacy in a population with moderate-to-high cardiovascular risk.
Methods: Demographic and socioeconomic data were collected from 453 participants of the CONNECT (Consumer Navigation of Electronic Cardiovascular Tools) study, which included age, gender, education, income, cardiovascular-related polypharmacy, private health care, main electronic device use, and time spent on the Internet. Participants also completed an eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) and a Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). Univariate analyses were performed to compare patient demographic and socioeconomic characteristics between the low (eHEALS

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 12, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jan 27, 2017
• Publication Date: Jan 30, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jan 30, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 30, 2017
• Journal: JMIR Human Factors
• Print ISSN: 2292-9495
• Publisher: JMIR Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 1
• Pages: e4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/humanfactors.6217
• Keywords: eHealth; socioeconomic factors; health literacy; cardiovascular system; chronic disease; Internet
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/677227
• Contract Date: Jan 30, 2017