Validation of the eHealth literacy scales: comparison between the shorter and longer versions.

Abstract

Digital service provision became necessary during and after the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting the technological disparity experienced by healthcare professionals and healthcare users. eHealth Literacy skills are mostly measured with the use of the eHeals, but recently more instruments have been developed to meet this need. The aim of the study was to validate and compare the two scales in Greek: the eHeals and the revised eHeals-Extended. In total, 401 participants replied to the eHeals, the revised eHeals-Extended, and the HLS-EU-Q16. The eHeals scales provided good psychometric properties. The validation of the eHeals confirmed the two dimensions with high internal consistency (total score α = .91, eHeals1 α = .88, eHeals2 α = .78). The revised eHeals-Extended exploratory analysis extracted five factors with satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .62-.89): awareness and quality of resources online, understanding online information, smart on the net, accessing and validating online information and perceived efficiency. The use of the revised eHeals-Extended and eHeals validated in Greek, could be valuable tools in clinical and research settings. The eHeals could be used as an additional tool when eHealth Literacy is not the core concept measured and the revised eHeals-Extended can be used when researchers wish to measure eHealth Literacy concept more thoroughly.