Measuring Health Information Technology Use and eHealth Literacy Among African Americans

Background: Online health information may be of particular value to African Americans because of its potential to reduce communication disparities that perpetuate inequities related to health information access and use. 

Objective: This study assessed the use of information technology among African Americans and their perceived ability to seek, access, use, and understands online health information (i.e., eHealth literacy).   

Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were completed by 879 African Americans (62% females, 38% males; M=39.19 years ±14.81 years).

Results: Most participants owned laptops (68%) and smartphones (70%), and primarily accessed the Internet through their smartphone (72%).  Most went online daily (78%), spending an average of 3.94 hours±3.31 hours online/day.  The most sought out online health information topics included general health (53%) and nutrition (52%).  Forty-one percent of the sample also reported use of a health app in the past 30 days.  eHealth literacy was measured with the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS), a brief assessment including eight items measured on a 5-point Likert scale.  The internal consistency of eHEALS was high (α=.96), and item-scale correlations ranged from r = .64 to .86.   The unidimensionality of data collected with the eHEALS was supported by principal component analysis (eigenvalue = 6.26, 78% of variance explained). Overall, all factor loadings could be classified as excellent (>.71).  Mean eHEALS score was 30.53±7.74 out of 40 possible points.

Discussion/Conclusion: This sample of African Americans possessed functional levels of eHealth literacy, suggesting they can engage in telehealth activities, and can be targeted for eHealth and mHealth research and interventions.