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Arabic Version of the Electronic Health Literacy Scale in Arabic-Speaking Individuals in Sweden: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study
BACKGROUND: Health information is often communicated through the internet. It is vital for the end user to have a range of digital skills as well as understand the information to promote their health. There is a valid and reliable 8-item instrument, the Electronic Health Literacy Scale (eHEALS), tha...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
JMIR Publications
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8074986/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33749614 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/24466 |
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author | Wångdahl, Josefin Dahlberg, Karuna Jaensson, Maria Nilsson, Ulrica |
author_facet | Wångdahl, Josefin Dahlberg, Karuna Jaensson, Maria Nilsson, Ulrica |
author_sort | Wångdahl, Josefin |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Health information is often communicated through the internet. It is vital for the end user to have a range of digital skills as well as understand the information to promote their health. There is a valid and reliable 8-item instrument, the Electronic Health Literacy Scale (eHEALS), that evaluates these skills. The number of Arabic-speaking people migrating to Sweden and to other parts of the world is increasing due to unstable military and political situations in their countries of origin. Poor health and limited health literacy have been described in this population in Sweden. Still, to our knowledge, an Arabic version of eHEALS has not been tested for validity or reliability. Thus, Arabic-speaking populations in Sweden cannot be included in studies measuring eHealth literacy, which does not support equal treatment in health care. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to translate and adapt the original English eHEALS version into Arabic and to evaluate its psychometric properties. METHODS: The eHEALS was rigorously translated, adapted, and evaluated for content validity. We conducted prospective psychometric evaluation with natively Arabic-speaking participants living in Sweden. Construct validity, factor structure, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability were evaluated using Spearman correlation, principal component analysis, Cronbach α, and weighted quadratic Cohen κ, respectively. RESULTS: The study population consisted of Arabic-speaking participants (n=298; age: mean 41.8 years, SD 10.5). Construct validity was supported with weak and moderate correlations. Principal component factor analysis revealed a one-factor structure. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach α=0.92); test-retest reliability was acceptable (weighted quadratic Cohen κ=0.76). Evaluation indicated that eHealth literacy threshold values should be dichotomized (limited and sufficient) rather than trichotomized (inadequate, problematic, and sufficient). CONCLUSIONS: The Arabic version of eHEALS, a unidimensional scale that is valid and reliable for measuring eHealth literacy among natively Arabic-speaking people in Sweden, was found to be acceptable and feasible in a general population. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8074986 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | JMIR Publications |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-80749862021-05-06 Arabic Version of the Electronic Health Literacy Scale in Arabic-Speaking Individuals in Sweden: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study Wångdahl, Josefin Dahlberg, Karuna Jaensson, Maria Nilsson, Ulrica J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Health information is often communicated through the internet. It is vital for the end user to have a range of digital skills as well as understand the information to promote their health. There is a valid and reliable 8-item instrument, the Electronic Health Literacy Scale (eHEALS), that evaluates these skills. The number of Arabic-speaking people migrating to Sweden and to other parts of the world is increasing due to unstable military and political situations in their countries of origin. Poor health and limited health literacy have been described in this population in Sweden. Still, to our knowledge, an Arabic version of eHEALS has not been tested for validity or reliability. Thus, Arabic-speaking populations in Sweden cannot be included in studies measuring eHealth literacy, which does not support equal treatment in health care. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to translate and adapt the original English eHEALS version into Arabic and to evaluate its psychometric properties. METHODS: The eHEALS was rigorously translated, adapted, and evaluated for content validity. We conducted prospective psychometric evaluation with natively Arabic-speaking participants living in Sweden. Construct validity, factor structure, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability were evaluated using Spearman correlation, principal component analysis, Cronbach α, and weighted quadratic Cohen κ, respectively. RESULTS: The study population consisted of Arabic-speaking participants (n=298; age: mean 41.8 years, SD 10.5). Construct validity was supported with weak and moderate correlations. Principal component factor analysis revealed a one-factor structure. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach α=0.92); test-retest reliability was acceptable (weighted quadratic Cohen κ=0.76). Evaluation indicated that eHealth literacy threshold values should be dichotomized (limited and sufficient) rather than trichotomized (inadequate, problematic, and sufficient). CONCLUSIONS: The Arabic version of eHEALS, a unidimensional scale that is valid and reliable for measuring eHealth literacy among natively Arabic-speaking people in Sweden, was found to be acceptable and feasible in a general population. JMIR Publications 2021-03-22 /pmc/articles/PMC8074986/ /pubmed/33749614 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/24466 Text en ©Josefin Wångdahl, Karuna Dahlberg, Maria Jaensson, Ulrica Nilsson. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 22.03.2021. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. |
spellingShingle | Original Paper Wångdahl, Josefin Dahlberg, Karuna Jaensson, Maria Nilsson, Ulrica Arabic Version of the Electronic Health Literacy Scale in Arabic-Speaking Individuals in Sweden: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study |
title | Arabic Version of the Electronic Health Literacy Scale in Arabic-Speaking Individuals in Sweden: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study |
title_full | Arabic Version of the Electronic Health Literacy Scale in Arabic-Speaking Individuals in Sweden: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study |
title_fullStr | Arabic Version of the Electronic Health Literacy Scale in Arabic-Speaking Individuals in Sweden: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Arabic Version of the Electronic Health Literacy Scale in Arabic-Speaking Individuals in Sweden: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study |
title_short | Arabic Version of the Electronic Health Literacy Scale in Arabic-Speaking Individuals in Sweden: Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study |
title_sort | arabic version of the electronic health literacy scale in arabic-speaking individuals in sweden: prospective psychometric evaluation study |
topic | Original Paper |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8074986/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33749614 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/24466 |
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