Abstract
Theoretically informed measures of eHealth literacy that consider the social affordances of eHealth are limited. This study describes the psychometric testing of a multi-dimensional instrument to measure functional, communicative, critical, and translational eHealth literacies, as informed by the Transactional Model of eHealth Literacy (TMeHL). A 3-phase rating scale construction process was conducted to engage eHealth experts and end-users. In Phase 1, Experts (N = 5) and end-users (N = 25) identified operational behaviors to measure each eHealth literacy dimension. End-users (N = 10) participated in think-aloud interviews to provide feedback on items reviewed and approved by experts. A field test was conducted with a random sample of patients recruited from a university-based research registry (N = 283). Factor analyses and Rasch procedures examined the internal structure of the scores produced by each scale. Pearson’s r correlations provided evidence for external validity of scores. The instrument measures four reliable (ω = .92-.96) and correlated (r= .44-.64) factors: functional (4 items), communicative (5 items), critical (5 items), and translational (4 items). Researchers and providers can use this new instrument as a theory-driven instrument to measure four eHealth literacies that are fundamental to the social affordances of the eHealth experience.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the experts and patients that participated in this study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.