JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

eHealth literacy is a necessary competency for individuals to achieve health self-management in the digital age, and the evaluation of eHealth literacy is an important foundation for clarifying individual eHealth literacy levels and implementing eHealth behavior interventions.

Objective:

This study reviews the research progress of eHealth literacy assessment instruments to offer suggestions for further development and improvement, as well as to provide reference to eHealth intervention.

Methods:

Using the method of systematic review, with Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed and EBSCO literature databases as data sources, 13 articles were screened according to PRISMA guidelines. Analysis in terms of the development process, instruments characteristics and assessment themes were conducted to reveal the content, features and application of currently available eHealth literacy assessment instruments.

Results:

The analysis of the 13 studies indicated that the development of instruments is improving constantly as the concept of eHealth literacy evolves. The reliability coefficient of 13 eHealth literacy assessment instruments all reflected satisfactory reliability, while the selection of the type of validity tests varied according to different assessment focuses.

Conclusions:

Subjective assessment instruments account for the most, among which eHEALS is the most widely used, while comprehensive assessment instruments incorporate objective assessment criteria. In aspect of assessment themes, skill factors are involved in many instruments, but psychology factors and information factors are less concerned.