Abstract
Electronic health literacy skills and competences are important for empowering people to have an active role in making appropriate health care decisions. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to (1) examine the frequency of use of the Internet for seeking online information about chronic pain, (2) determine the level of eHealth literacy skills in the study sample, (3) identify the factors most closely associated with higher levels of eHealth literacy, and (4) examine self-efficacy as a potential mediator of the association between eHealth literacy and measures of pain and function in a sample of adults with chronic pain. One-hundred and sixty-one adults with chronic pain completed measures assessing internet use, eHealth literacy, pain interference, anxiety, depression, and pain-related self-efficacy. Results indicated that 70% of the participants are active users of the Internet for seeking information related to their health. The level of eHealth literacy skills was not statistically significantly associated with participants’ age or pain interference but was significantly negatively associated with both anxiety and depression. In addition, the findings showed that self-efficacy fully explained the relationship between eHealth literacy and depression and partially explained the relationship between eHealth literacy and anxiety. Self-efficacy should be considered as a treatment target in eHealth literacy interventions, due to its role in explaining the potential benefits of eHealth literacy.
Highlights
One-hundred and thirteen (70%) participants in our study reported that they used the Internet “almost always” or “always” for seeking information related to their chronic pain problem (: never = 1 (1%), almost never = 3 (2%), sometimes = 44 (27%), almost always = 38 (24%), and always = 75 (46%) of the total participants)
Consistent with the study hypothesis, a large number of participants in this sample (70%) were active in seeking information related to their chronic pain condition on the Internet
This study provides new information about eHealth literacy and its association with psychosocial variables in individuals with chronic pain
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Specific knowledge domains addressed by pain education include information about the possible causes of pain, treatment options, effective self-management strategies, and prognosis [12]. Patients can obtain this information from a variety of sources, including the Internet [13]. Only one study has examined self-efficacy as a potential mediator of the effects of eHealth literacy in chronic pain samples. Rabenbauer and Mevenkamp [34] found that selfefficacy mediated the association between eHealth literacy skills and healthy habits (e.g., organized physical exercise) in a sample of 207 adults with chronic back pain who used eHealth interventions for the management of chronic pain These initial findings have yet to be replicated. We hypothesized that self-efficacy would mediate the associations between eHealth literacy and anxiety, depression, and pain interference
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