Reliability and Feasibility of the eHEALS in Thai Patients with Rheumatic and Autoimmune Diseases

Abstract

Introduction: Using health information requires digital literacy skill, an individual's ability to search, evaluate, and communicate information on various digital platforms. The eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) is an 8-item measure developed to evaluate individual’s perceived skills at using health information technology. This study aimed to assess the reliability and feasibility of the Thai version of eHEALS.

Method: In this cross-sectional study, Thai patients with rheumatic and autoimmune diseases aged ≥18 years who were followed in the outpatient rheumatology clinics of Siriraj Hospital during September 2021 to January 2022 responded to the Thai version of eHEALS by themselves..  

Results: Of 140 participants, 82% were women with a mean age (SD) of 45.17 (12.7) years and a mean duration of education (SD) of 14.18 (3.57) years. The Thai eHEALS had a high internal consistence with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.85, and good test-retest reliability with ICC (95% CI) of 0.74 (0.65-0.81). According to Bland-Altman plots, the mean difference mean score (SD) for both tests was 0.13 (3.15), where the agreement limits at 95% of the CI of the mean difference ranged between -6.039 and 6.289 (p < 0.0001), also strengthen its reliability. The median time to complete the questionnaire (min-max) was 1 (0.75-14) minutes. Eighty-nine (89%) completed the questionnaires without missing an item. The median unanswered questions (min-max) were 2 (1-3).

Conclusion: The Thai version of eHEALS was reliable and feasible to evaluate the comfort and skill of Thai patients in using information technology for health.