Original Research Papers
Validation of eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) on Sri Lankan population of working age
Authors:
Nilani Gunasekara ,
University of Sri Jayawardenapura, LK
About Nilani
Faculty of Graduate Studies
Mahesh Fernando
University of Sri Jayewardenepura, LK
About Mahesh
Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce
Abstract
Background: Electronic Health Literacy Scale (eHEALS) is a unidimensional measure defined by Norman and Skinner in 2006 that measures a person’s ability to understand and use health information through electronic sources.
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the validity of eHEALS for working age employees in Sri Lanka.
Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among managers and senior working age employees using a self-administrated eHEALS questionnaire. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to identify the behaviour of various eHEALS scales.
Results: Of 411 questionnaires distributed, 286 responses were returned. The results fit into a 2-factor model, indicating the division of eHEALS scales into 2 subscales with 64.493% of total variance. The factors were labelled as “Information Seeking” (eHEALS1-eHEALS5) and “Information Appraisal” (eHEALS6-eHEALS8) with internal consistency of 0.902 and 0.822 respectively. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis for the organization of 8 questions demonstrates high indices [minimum discrepancy per degree of freedom (CMIN/DF) = 2.215, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.969, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.985, root mean squared error approximation (RMSEA) = 0.065)] and assures the convergent validity of eHEALS [(average variance extracted (AVE) values>0.5].
Conclusions: eHEALS is multidimensional as such that the first five questions and next three questions separately evaluate two dimensions of electronic health literacy of working age employees.
How to Cite:
Gunasekara, N. and Fernando, M., 2020. Validation of eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) on Sri Lankan population of working age. Sri Lanka Journal of Medicine, 29(2), pp.45–52. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/sljm.v29i2.166
Published on
15 Dec 2020.
Peer Reviewed
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