Hernández Encuentra Eulàlia, González Caballero Juan Luis, Montagni Ilaria, Fernández Gutiérrez Martina, Bas Sarmiento Pilar
Psychology and Education Studies, Open University of Catalonia, Rambla Poblenou, 156, Barcelona, Catalonia, 08018, Spain.
Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cadiz, Plaza Falla, 9, Cádiz, 11003, Spain.
Eur J Public Health. 2025 Aug 1;35(4):617-623. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckaf016.
Spain has been consolidating the implementation of digital healthcare. However, there is not a comprehensive picture of the digital health literacy of the population in relation to existing policies and practices. To identify different profiles of people by analysing their digital health literacy, with the ultimate goal of providing healthcare organizations with indications to improve the relationship between people and the healthcare system. This cross-sectional survey study included 400 people aged ≥18 years from May 2021 to May 2022 in Spain. Participants were stratified by gender, age range, and residential area mirroring the Spanish population, and were recruited by an online panel and in community settings. A self-administered online survey was used, including the eHLQ questionnaire as a main measure and sociodemographic information. The digital health literacy level was medium and balanced among the seven eHLQ dimensions (ranging from 2.60 to 2.77 out of 5). The latent class analysis revealed five profiles based on the scores of the dimensions of the eHLQ questionnaire and taking into account age, technology use, and educational level. Access to digital services that work, together with using digital technology to process health information, is the main challenge identified by the participants. National health institutions and policies should focus not only on educating and training in digital skills but also on providing reliable and useful digital health services. This is the first study to provide a comprehensive digital health literacy profile of the Spanish population using the eHLQ questionnaire.
西班牙一直在巩固数字医疗保健的实施。然而，关于现有政策和实践，目前还没有关于民众数字健康素养的全面情况。通过分析民众的数字健康素养来识别不同的人群特征，最终目的是为医疗保健机构提供相关指示，以改善民众与医疗保健系统之间的关系。这项横断面调查研究于2021年5月至2022年5月在西班牙纳入了400名年龄≥18岁的人群。参与者按照反映西班牙人口情况的性别、年龄范围和居住地区进行分层，并通过在线小组和社区环境招募。使用了一份自我管理的在线调查问卷，其中包括eHLQ问卷作为主要测量工具以及社会人口统计学信息。在eHLQ的七个维度中，数字健康素养水平中等且均衡（满分5分，得分在2.60至2.77之间）。潜在类别分析基于eHLQ问卷维度的得分，并考虑年龄、技术使用和教育水平，揭示了五种人群特征。参与者指出，能够使用有效的数字服务以及利用数字技术处理健康信息是主要挑战。国家卫生机构和政策不仅应专注于数字技能的教育和培训，还应提供可靠且有用的数字健康服务。这是第一项使用eHLQ问卷对西班牙人口的数字健康素养进行全面描述的研究。
