JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Diabetes mellitus (DM) continues to be a critical public health issue in Hong Kong. Although self-care behaviours help promote health among patients with DM, adherence remains suboptimal. Electronic health literacy (eHealth literacy) should be paid more attention to with the development of modern technologies.

Objective:

To assess the level of eHealth literacy among patients with DM and examine its association with their self-care and health.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted among type 2 DM patients from the DM clinic of a Hong Kong public hospital. Data about their eHealth literacy, self-care, self-care self-efficacy, diabetes distress, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) control, and socio-demographic information were collected.

Results:

Among 427 DM patients recruited, around two-thirds (65.1%) were classified as having a high level of eHealth literacy. After controlling for significant socio-demographic (e.g., sex, age, education level, and family income) and medical (e.g., duration of diagnosis and types of treatment) variables, participants who were classified as having high level of eHealth literacy had significantly higher level of self-care (p<.01), self-care self-efficacy (p<.001), and lower level of diabetes distress (p<.001). They were also more likely to show ideal HbA1c control (i.e., < 7%) (1.90, [1.15, 2.81]), and such associations were marginally significant after adjusting for socio-demographic and medical variables (1.57, [0.99, 2.52]).

Conclusions:

This study evaluates eHealth literacy levels among DM patients and examines the associations between eHealth literacy and health outcomes (e.g., self-care, self-care self-efficacy, diabetes distress, HbA1c control). Assessing eHealth literacy in DM patients could be useful to identify those who are vulnerable to poorer health. Promoting eHealth literacy of DM patients could potentially be an important means to improve health-related outcomes of this population.