{"title":"Assessment of eHealth Literacy in Healthcare Service Users: Construction and Validation of a Measurement Instrument.","authors":"Juan Morales, César Augusto Eguia","doi":"10.2174/0117450179393541250722062947","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>eHealth literacy is influenced by Internet access and is associated with health status. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument called eHealth-Much to measure eHealth literacy in users of healthcare services.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An instrumental research design was used. Content validity was assessed by expert judgment and quantified using Aiken's V coefficient. A polychoric correlation matrix was used for the items. Sample adequacy was assessed through the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) index and Bartlett's test of sphericity before conducting exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The EFA was conducted using the Weighted Least Squares (WLS) extraction method with Oblimin rotation. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's Alpha (α) and McDonald's Omega (ω) coefficients.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Twelve experts from five different countries participated in the content validation process, obtaining a V coefficient of 0.93 (95% CI: 0.79-0.97). A total of 1,068 health service users of both sexes participated in the construct validity testing. The median age was 32 years (IQR: 13, Q1: 26, Q3: 39; Min: 17, Max: 78). The KMO index was 0.92 (Bartlett's test, p < 0.001). The EFA suggested four factors labeled \"Digital Literacy\" (WLS1), \"Digital Self-Management\" (WLS4), \"Digital Skill\" (WLS3), and \"Scientific Empowerment\" (WLS2), which together explained 59.3% of the total variance. The reliability coefficients obtained were 0.86 for Cronbach's alpha and 0.90 for McDonald's omega. Percentile ranks and normative scores were also established for the sample.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The factorial structure obtained theoretically supports the multidimensionality of the construct, aligning with previous models of digital health literacy.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The scale demonstrates adequate levels of validity and reliability. It may be considered a viable option for use in both primary care settings and hospital environments. Further studies are recommended to expand the psychometric analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":35447,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health","volume":"21 ","pages":"e17450179393541"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12481596/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2174/0117450179393541250722062947","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: eHealth literacy is influenced by Internet access and is associated with health status. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument called eHealth-Much to measure eHealth literacy in users of healthcare services.
Methods: An instrumental research design was used. Content validity was assessed by expert judgment and quantified using Aiken's V coefficient. A polychoric correlation matrix was used for the items. Sample adequacy was assessed through the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) index and Bartlett's test of sphericity before conducting exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The EFA was conducted using the Weighted Least Squares (WLS) extraction method with Oblimin rotation. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's Alpha (α) and McDonald's Omega (ω) coefficients.
Results: Twelve experts from five different countries participated in the content validation process, obtaining a V coefficient of 0.93 (95% CI: 0.79-0.97). A total of 1,068 health service users of both sexes participated in the construct validity testing. The median age was 32 years (IQR: 13, Q1: 26, Q3: 39; Min: 17, Max: 78). The KMO index was 0.92 (Bartlett's test, p < 0.001). The EFA suggested four factors labeled "Digital Literacy" (WLS1), "Digital Self-Management" (WLS4), "Digital Skill" (WLS3), and "Scientific Empowerment" (WLS2), which together explained 59.3% of the total variance. The reliability coefficients obtained were 0.86 for Cronbach's alpha and 0.90 for McDonald's omega. Percentile ranks and normative scores were also established for the sample.
Discussion: The factorial structure obtained theoretically supports the multidimensionality of the construct, aligning with previous models of digital health literacy.
Conclusion: The scale demonstrates adequate levels of validity and reliability. It may be considered a viable option for use in both primary care settings and hospital environments. Further studies are recommended to expand the psychometric analysis.
期刊介绍:
Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health is an open access online journal, which publishes Research articles, Reviews, Letters in all areas of clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health covering the following topics: Clinical and epidemiological research in psychiatry and mental health; diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of mental health conditions; and frequencies and determinants of mental health conditions in the community and the populations at risk; research and economic aspects of psychiatry, with special attention given to manuscripts presenting new results and methods in the area; and clinical epidemiologic investigation of pharmaceutical agents. Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, a peer reviewed journal, aims to provide the most complete and reliable source of information on current developments in the field. The emphasis will be on publishing quality articles rapidly and freely available worldwide.