Gender Difference in eHealth Literacy: Empirical Evidence from Turkey

Abstract

People in the world became more eager to use digital health services and search health information online more often with the effect of COVID-19. Even before the pandemic, Turkish people started to use the Internet as a source for getting health related information according to Turkish Statistical Institute data. There is always some difference between men and women in various attitudes, perceptions, or behaviors. It is believed that gender also matters while searching health related information. This study examined the difference between men and women according to eHealth literacy. Gender differences were analyzed based on an online survey obtained from 520 Turkish Internet users. There was a significant difference between men and women according to their eHealth Literacy. Results showed that women felt more confident and skilled for searching health-related information online, so they found to be more highly eHealth literated than men.