Electronic health literacy of older Hispanics with diabetes

Although the internet increases the availability of diabetes-related health information, health care consumers need to have different skills in order to obtain, interpret and evaluate such information. The eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) was originally developed to assess consumers' perceived skills at using information technology for health. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of older Hispanics' with type 2 diabetes in using the internet for diabetes management. This study was conducted in the USA among a convenience sample of older Hispanics with type 2 diabetes (n = 20) who attended a senior center in East Harlem, New York City. All participants first completed eHEALS and a demographic, diabetes-related, and smart phone use form either in English or Spanish and then participated in a focus group. Descriptive statistics and a univariate exploratory analysis were conducted to determine differences in electronic health literacy based on age or gender. In addition, qualitative data from the focus groups were analyzed. No significant differences were found based on age (F = 0.76, p = 0.66), but a t-test found significant differences based on gender (t = -2.67, df = 18, p = 0.015). During the qualitative data analysis, five themes were identified from the focus group responses. Although the participants had access to the internet, they were not using the technology to access diabetes-related health information. Given the small sample size in this study, the Spanish version of the instrument needs to be used in a larger sample and further psychometric testing.