Lawrence C. An|Elizabeth Bacon|Sarah T. Hawley|Penny Yang|Daniel M. Russell|Scott B. Huffman|Ken Resnicow
Relationship Between Coronavirus-Related eHealth Literacy and COVID-19 Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among US Adults: Web-Based Survey Study
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor|University of Michigan–Ann Arbor|VA Center for Clinical Management Research|VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System|University of Michigan–Ann Arbor|University of Michigan–Ann Arbor|Google (United States)|Google (United States)|University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
background global pandemic critical public able rapidly acquire new accurate health information internet major source health information ehealth literacy ability individuals find assess use health information available internet objective goals study assess coronavirusrelated ehealth literacy examine relationship ehealth literacy covid19related knowledge attitudes practices kaps methods conducted webbased survey representative sample 1074 us adults adapted 8item ehealth literacy scale develop coronavirusrelated ehealth literacy scale coveheals measure covid19related knowledge conspiracy beliefs adherence protective behaviors eg wearing facial masks social distancing analyses identified sociodemographic associations participants coveheals scores association coveheals measure covid19 kaps results internal consistency adapted coveheals measure high cronbach 92 mean score coveheals 290 sd 61 total 29 3061074 survey participants classified low coronavirusrelated ehealth literacy coveheals score lt26 independent associations found coveheals scores ethnicity standardized 083 p016 black participants education level standardized 151 p001 participants highschool education lower controlling demographic characteristics coveheals scores demonstrated positive independent associations knowledge standardized 168 plt001 adherence protective behaviors standardized 241 plt001 negative association conspiracy beliefs standardized 082 p009 conclusions study provides estimate coronavirusrelated ehealth literacy among us adults findings suggest substantial proportion us adults low coronavirusrelated ehealth literacy thus greater risk lower lessprotective covid19 kaps findings highlight need assess address ehealth literacy part covid19 control efforts potential strategies include improving quality health information covid19 available internet assisting simplifying webbased search information covid19 training improve general coronavirusspecific search skills