The associations among individual factors, eHealth literacy, depression symptoms and health related quality of life among Chinese elderly: a cross-section study

Abstract

Background: The higher level of eHealth literacy the elderly has, the easier it is to acquire benefits of health-seeking information online. The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) and examine the associations of eHEALS scores with depression, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), lifestyles among the elderly. Methods: A survey of 6183 participants (age 60 years and above) from 17 communities were conducted in June, 2019. Participants answered questions related to socio-demographics, eHEALS, geriatric depression scale and the short-form health survey (SF-36, assessing health-related quality of life). Two mediation models were conducted. A multi-linear regression analysis was performed to explore the association between the eHEALS scores and associated factors using Statistical Package for Social Science version 20.0. Significance was obtained at 95% CI and P < 0.05.Results: Exploratory factor analysis identified one component structure, accounting for 78.52% of the total variance. The factor loadings of eHEALS ranked from 0.832 to 0.905. The Cronbach α of overall scale was 0.961. eHEALS was significant higher in men (B = 0.616, 95%CI 0.235~0.997, P = 0.002), those with living in the city (B = 1.471, 95%CI 1.064~1.878, P < 0.000), those with high educated (B = 1.713, 95%CI 1.581~1.844, P < 0.000), and those with living with family (B = 6.436, 95%CI 4.574~8.298, P < 0.000), as compared to their counterparts, respectively. Moreover, chronic diseases (B = -2.218, 95%CI -2.632~-1.804, P < 0.000) and depression symptoms (B = -0.116, 95%CI 0.153~0.078, P < 0.000) were found negatively associated with eHEALS, while actively obtaining health information positively influenced eHEALS (B = 3.350, 95%CI 2.950~3.749, P < 0.000) after adjusting socio-demographics, lifestyles and HRQoL. Furthermore, depression symptoms had direct and indirect effects on HRQoL, as mediated by eHealth literacy.Conclusions: The eHEALS was a valid and reliable survey tool. As eHealth literacy was a protector for the aged, efforts to improve the older adults’ eHEALS scores can help to main health status. Therefore, healthcare providers formulate effective programs to improve eHealth literacy for the elderly, which can bring benefits for health aging.

Role of factors in eHealth literacy in period of COVID-19: a study of Turkey

“…While some studies focused on the general groups of people who applied directly to the hospitals (Do et al , 2020), some other studies researched outpatients who get health-care services from hospitals (Vollbrecht et al ., 2021). Another group of a study worked on patients with psychological diseases such as depression and anxiety (Zhu and Yang, 2021). Psychological well-being has been found as an important factor for eHealth literacy during COVID-19 (Yang et al , 2021).…”