Cameron D. Norman|Harvey A. Skinner
eHEALS: The eHealth Literacy Scale
University of Toronto|York University
background electronic health resources helpful people able use yet remain tools available assess consumers capacity engaging ehealthover 40 us canadian adults low basic literacy levels suggesting ehealth resources likely inaccessible large segments populationusing information technology health requires ehealth literacythe ability read use computers search information understand health information put contextthe ehealth literacy scale eheals designed 1 assess consumers perceived skills using information technology health 2 aid determining fit ehealth programs consumers objectivesthe eheals 8item measure ehealth literacy developed measure consumers combined knowledge comfort perceived skills finding evaluating applying electronic health information health problemsthe objective study psychometrically evaluate properties eheals within population contexta youth population chosen focus initial development primarily high levels ehealth use familiarity information technology toolsmethods data collected baseline postintervention 3and 6month followup using control group data part single session randomized intervention trial evaluating webbased ehealth programsscale reliability tested using item analysis internal consistency coefficient alpha testretest reliability estimatesprincipal components factor analysis used determine theoretical fit measures dataresults total 664 participants 370 boys 294 girls aged 13 21 mean 1495sd 124 completed eheals four time points 6 monthsitem analysis performed 8item scale baseline producing tight fitting scale 88itemscale correlations ranged r 51to 76testretest reliability showed modest stability time baseline 6month followup r 68to 40principal components analysis produced single factor solution 56 variancefactor loadings ranged 60 84 among 8 items conclusionsthe eheals reliably consistently captures ehealth literacy concept repeated administrations showing promise tool assessing consumer comfort skill using information technology healthwithin clinical environment eheals potential serve means identifying may may benefit referrals ehealth intervention resourcefurther research needs examine applicability eheals populations settings exploring relationship ehealth literacy health care outcomes