Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Aug 1, 2019
Date Accepted: Sep 23, 2019
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Reliability and Validity of the Chinese eHealth Literacy Scale (C-eHEALS) in a Chinese Rural Population: Evaluations of Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory Methods
ABSTRACT
Background:
The eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) is the most widely used instrument for health studies to measure individual’s eHealth literacy. Nonetheless, despite the rapid development of the online medical industry and increased rural-urban disparities in China, very few studies have examined the measurement characteristics of the eHEALS among Chinese rural people using modern psychometric methods. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of eHEALS in a Chinese rural population using both classical test theory and item response theory methods.
Objective:
The present study aims to develop a simplified Chinese version of the eHEALS (C-eHEALS) and evaluate its psychometric properties in a rural population.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey was conducted of 543 rural Internet users in west China. The internal reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. A one-factor structure of the C-eHEALS was obtained via principal components analysis (PCA), and fit indices for this structure were calculated using confirmatory factory analysis (CFA). Then, the item discrimination, difficulty, and test information were estimated via the graThe C-eHEALS has good reliability. Both PCA and CFA showed that the scale has a one-factor structure. GRM revealed that all items of the C-eHEALS have response options that allow for differentiation between latent trait levels and for the capture of large information regarding participants’ ability. ded response model (GRM). Also, the criterion validity was confirmed by hypothesis testing.
Results:
The C-eHEALS has good reliability. Both PCA and CFA showed that the scale has a one-factor structure. GRM revealed that all items of the C-eHEALS have response options that allow for differentiation between latent trait levels and for the capture of large information regarding participants’ ability.
Conclusions:
The findings support the reliability and validity of the C-eHEALS and its use for measuring eHealth literacy among Chinese rural people.
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