ArticleBMC public health2022
Health literacy and digital health information-seeking behavior - a cross-sectional study among highly educated Swedes.
Article in BMC public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- To what extent do people in malaria-endemic countries know asymptomatic malaria infections? A systematic review.PloS one · 2026Pooled it
- Telehealth Use and Satisfaction in Primary and Mental Health Care Across 9 High-Income Countries.Mayo Clinic proceedings. Digital health · 2026Article
- Disparity in disease, equality in death? Socioeconomic disparities in life expectancy after disease onset: a full-population cohort study over 64 non-communicable diseases in Denmark 2013-2022.European journal of public health · 2026Article
- Association Between eHealth Literacy and Online Health Information Seeking Behavior Among Cancer Patients: A Chain Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy and Information Utility.Health care science · 2026Article
- Social factors associated with the development of e-health literacy: A mixed-methods study among patient organization members and representatives.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Social listening for the identification of information voids on early childhood caries based on Google search data.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2026Article
- Seeking But Not Discussing Online Health Information With Physicians: Cross-Sectional Survey Study of eHealth Literacy-Empowerment Profiles and Patient-Centered Communication.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Article
- The Relationship Between Physician Self-Disclosure and Patient Acquisition in Digital Health Markets: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Observational
- Digital health literacy and immigrants' access to digitalized healthcare: a comparative study of Spain, and Sweden - implications for public health policy.BMC public health · 2026Article
- E-health literacy and health system distrust: exploring a nonlinear association in a cross-sectional study.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2026Article
- Public Search Behavior and Tuberculosis Cases in Indonesia 2019-2023: An Infodemiology Study Using Google Trends .F1000Research · 2026Article
- Health Information-Seeking Behaviors Among Patients with Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases: A Qualitative Study Guided by the S-O-R Theory.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Article
- Health misinformation, digital health literacy, and attitudes toward science among university students: an exploratory cross-sectional survey.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Patterns of healthcare contacts for decreased fetal movements in Sweden before and during the Covid-19 pandemic: a retrospective population-based cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Information sources as determinants of use of formal long-term care: a cross-sectional study in Taiwan.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- LLMonFHIR: A Physician-Validated, Large Language Model-Based Mobile Application for Querying Patient Electronic Health Data.JACC. Advances · 2025Article
- Virus Monitoring in Denmark: A Community-Based Self-Sampling System to Surveil Respiratory Viruses and Associated Symptoms.Journal of medical virology · 2025Article
- Health literacy and influencing factors in university students across diverse educational fields in Kazakhstan.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe benefits of digital development in health care may be obscured by unequal opportunities to make use of digital resources. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of health literacy with I) accessing health check test results in the Patient Electronic Health Record (PAEHR), II) searching for information to better understand individual test results, and III) using the national health information online portal provided by the Swedish national health care system.
methodsThis cross-sectional study included data from 434 individuals, 50-64 years old, randomly selected from the Swedish population during the year 2017 to a cohort study including health examination and a web-based survey. Health literacy was assessed at baseline using the Swedish Communicative and Critical Health Literacy scale. Digital information outcomes were assessed after three months. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the separate outcomes were computed using logistic regression. Covariates included sex, age, education, country of birth, cardiovascular risk factors at baseline, general health, risk perception, referral, and new cardiovascular risk factors detected at health examination.
resultsAbout a third of the participants (35%) had limited health literacy, while 65% had sufficient health literacy. Sufficient health literacy was associated with accessing the PAEHR (adjusted OR 1.81 95% CI 1.07-3.06) and use of the online national health information portal provided by the Swedish national health care system (adjusted OR 2.91 95% CI 1.13-7.52) but not with searching information to better understand individual test results (adjusted OR 1.29 0.75-2.20).
conclusionsIndividuals with limited health literacy do not access their personal health information nor search for health information on the online national health information portal provided by the Swedish national health care system to the same extent as individuals with sufficient health literacy. More research is needed about how the level of health literacy relates to differences in online health information-seeking behavior and how digital health information sources and e-health services can be designed to ensure that the entire population has equal access to trustworthy and quality-ensured health information.
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