Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Jan 17, 2024)
Date Submitted: May 23, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: May 23, 2023 - Jul 18, 2023
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A cross-sectional study evaluating digital health literacy amongst patients attending general surgery clinics
ABSTRACT
Background:
The ability to understand health information from electronic sources and apply this knowledge to address a health issue is termed digital health literacy (DHL). With the increasing use of digital technology such as smartphones, DHL has become important in the delivery of healthcare services.
Objective:
This study aimed to evaluate the mobile device proficiency and DHL amongst patients in a tertiary center, and identify possible social determinants that influence patients’ DHL.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional study of 100 patients attending general surgery clinics from January-March 2022. All patients completed two questionnaires, namely the MDPQ-16 and the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) tools to quantify mobile phone proficiency and DHL, respectively. Data related to age, gender, educational status and income level was collected to establish relationships between these factors and scores on MDPQ-16 and eHEALS tools.
Results:
52% of the 100 patients in our cohort were male. The median age was 62 (42-72) years. 85% owned a smartphone as opposed to a standard mobile device. Mobile phone ownership was lower in older patients and lower educational status (p<0.002). The average score on the MDPQ was lower for patients who were older, had a lower income or a lower educational status (p=0.001). The combined average score on the eHEALS was also lower for older patients (p=0.034) and patients with a lower educational qualification (p=0.01), indicating a lower DHL in using mobile phones.
Conclusions:
Individual socio-economic factors such as age, income level and educational status are important social determinants of digital health literacy regardless of the broader geographical setting. Further work should focus on understanding the challenges within specific factions of society, and how these can be overcome with the collaboration between service providers. Clinical Trial: N/A
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