A Descriptive Study of Digital Health Literacy and Internet Use of Older Adults Living Alone

Abstract

Purpose Digital health literacy refers to the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information or healthcare-related digital applications and apply the knowledge gained to addressing or solving a health problem (Norman & Skinner, 2006; van der Vaart & Drossaert, 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic led to the adoption of evolving digital technologies and various changes in our daily lives. Digital health, like the web, mobile, and wearable devices, affects health status and quality of life by improving access to health information for vulnerable groups. However, if digital health literacy is not considered, health inequity due to inadequate health information will bring about health inequity (Cheng, et. al., 2020; Dunn, & Hazzard., 2019). This study aims to understand the digital health literacy of older adults living alone and explore the relationship between demographic variables, internet use, and digital health literacy. Method A convenience sample of older adults aged 65 years or older who live alone participated in a cross-sectional survey. The survey questionnaire included the eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS), Digital Health Technology Literacy Assessment Questionnaire (DHTL-AQ), and items from the '2020 Report on the Digital Divide' assessing digital health literacy and internet use. Since data were not normally distributed, we analyzed by nonparametric methods such as the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results and Discussion A total of 191 participants were included in the study. The mean age of all participants was 77.12 years, and 145(75.9%) participants were females. Of the 140 (140/191, 73.30%) people who owned a smartphone, 62(62/140, 44.29%) of them had used the internet within a month. The differences in digital health literacy according to education level(p=.021) and Internet use(p=.000) were statistically significant. More in-depth studies of diverse older adults could better understand the relationship between factors influencing digital health literacy. When applying digital health to vulnerable groups such as the elderly living alone, it is necessary to assess their education level, internet use, and digital health literacy.