Current approaches to measure ehealth literacy with special attention to children and adolescents
EM Bitzer, Hanna Schwendemann, Anja Stiller, Paula Bleckmann, Thomas Mößle · European Journal of Public Health · 2016
Background EHealth Literacy (eHL) as part of general Health Literacy (HL) is defined as the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic resources and applying the knowledge to address or solve health problems (Norman & Skinner, 2006). Newer concepts expand this definition with capabilities of knowledge about one’s own health, interacting and experiences with information and technology (Kayser, 2015). Children and adolescents are active users of media and media is an essential part of their daily life. Misuse can result in several health and developmental problems. Valid measurement of eHL in children and adolescence is desirable, i.e. to assess the effectiveness of interventions to enhance eHL in this target group. Methods We searched in PubMed on reviews about HL and eHL measurement instruments. Results We identified 31 systematic reviews on HL measurement. HL is understood as a life-long learning process, starting in early childhood (Bröder, 2016). However, the majority of instruments have been developed for adults, only. Ngyuen (2015) identified 109 instruments comprising perceived HL and performance based measures, only a few targeted at adolescents. eHL assessments are scarce and instruments measuring eHL in childhood are missing. These reviews did not mention instruments that assess (e)HL in parents. Conclusions Parents act as role models for children and influence, as part of the social environment, their eHL skills. Instruments for children measuring eHL, should focus on the one hand on assessments for parents addressing scales for using media and for not using media, like skills limiting screen time, content and dysfunctional use and on the other hand performance orientated eHL should be assessed, like using scenarios.