The prevalence of eHealth literacy and its relationship with perceived health status and psychological distress during Covid-19: a cross-sectional study of older adults in Blekinge, Sweden

Abstract

Background and aims eHealth literacy is important as it influences health-promoting behaviors and health. The ability to use eHealth resources is essential to maintaining health, especially during COVID-19 when both physical and psychological health were affected. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of eHealth literacy and its association with psychological distress and perceived health status among older adults in Blekinge, Sweden. Furthermore, this study aimed to assess if perceived health status influences the association between eHealth literacy and psychological distress. Methods This cross-sectional study (October 2021-December 2021) included 678 older adults’ as participants of the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care, Blekinge (SNAC-B). These participants were sent questionnaires about their use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we conducted the statistical analysis using the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance, Kendall’s tau-b rank correlation, and multiple linear regression. Results We found that 68.4% of the participants had moderate to high levels of eHealth literacy in the population. Being female, age $$< 75$$ < 75 years, and having a higher education are associated with high eHealth literacy ($$p< 0.05$$ p < 0.05 ). eHealth literacy is significantly correlated ($$\tau$$ τ =0.12, p-value=0.002) and associated with perceived health status ($$\beta$$ β =0.39, p-value=0.008). It is also significantly correlated ($$\tau$$ τ =-0.12, p-value=0.001) and associated with psychological distress ($$\beta$$ β =-0.14, p-value=0.002). The interaction of eHealth literacy and good perceived health status reduced psychological distress ($$\beta$$ β =-0.30, p-value=0.002). Conclusions In our cross-sectional study, we found that the point prevalence of eHealth literacy among older adults living in Blekinge, Sweden is moderate to high, which is a positive finding. However, there are still differences among older adults based on factors such as being female, younger than 75 years, highly educated, in good health, and without psychological distress. The results indicated that psychological distress could be mitigated during the pandemic by increasing eHealth literacy and maintaining good health status.

eHealth literacy was associated with anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

“…Among women with high eHealth literacy, the likelihood of anxiety and depression was lower compared to men. This corroborated with other studies that have shown that being female, less than 75 years old and having a higher education are associated with eHealth literacy ( 22 ). Reasons for this disparity are unclear and could be explored in future studies.…”

“…We found an association between higher eHealth literacy and lower odds of both depression and anxiety. Previous studies reported an inverse correlation between eHealth literacy and depression and that improving eHealth literacy may contribute to maintaining good psychological well-being ( 21 , 22 ). Mental health services are severely sparse in Nigeria, and related stigma persists ( 42 ).…”

“…Previous reports have shown reports of a negative correlation between eHealth literacy and depression, insomnia, and post-traumatic disorder ( 21 ). Improving eHealth literacy has been recommended to address psychological distress ( 22 ). The mental health of Nigerians was adversely affected during the pandemic ( 9 , 23 ).…”

Socio-digital Determinants of eHealth Literacy and Related Impact on Health Outcomes and eHealth Use in Korean Older Adults: A Community-based Cross-sectional Survey (Preprint)

“…In this study, the scale has a Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient (α) of 0.99, which indicates high internal consistency and reliability. For distribution, eHealth literacy is categorised into three groups -lack of eHealth literacy (eHEALS scale 8-15.9), low to moderate eHealth literacy (eHEALS scale 16-31.9) and high eHealth literacy (eHEALS scale 32-40) [28].…”

Privacy paradox resolution in mHealth: the moderating effect of rationality degree

“…Variations in health status may lead to significant differences in patients' perceived benefits and risks for mHealth service and their privacy concerns. While some researchers have explored the impact of health status on eHealth literacy (Ghazi et al, 2023), psychological emotion (Zheng et al, 2023), and life satisfaction (Liu et al, 2022), there is a lack of literature examining its association with privacy issues, particularly in analyzing the diverse privacy perceptions and behaviors among individuals with different health statuses. Thus, the third research question is as follows.…”