ReviewCureus2026
Bridging the Digital Prevention Gap: A Systematic Literature Review of Digital Health Literacy and Preventive Health Behaviors in Low-Income Communities.
Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Digital health literacy is increasingly central to preventive healthcare, particularly in low-income and socioeconomically vulnerable communities where limited internet access, lower health literacy, and digital exclusion may restrict engagement with prevention services. Although digital health tools are expanding, evidence remains fragmented on how digital health literacy is associated with preventive behaviors in disadvantaged populations. This systematic literature review examined the association between digital health literacy and preventive health behaviors, including COVID-19 prevention, vaccination intention, online health information seeking, screening-related decision support, and chronic disease self-management. A structured search of electronic databases was conducted using terms related to digital health literacy, eHealth literacy, preventive health behavior, socioeconomic vulnerability, and the digital divide. Eligible primary studies assessed digital or eHealth literacy or online health information-related skills and reported prevention-related outcomes. One measurement-support study was retained only to contextualize the digital health literacy assessment and was not included in the preventive outcome synthesis. Findings were synthesized narratively because of heterogeneity in study design, populations, measures, and outcomes. Higher digital health literacy was generally associated with better prevention-related outcomes, especially COVID-19 preventive behaviors, vaccination intention, and online health information use. Education, income, internet access, computer literacy, employment, and general health literacy repeatedly influenced digital health literacy. The evidence also suggested that vulnerable users can benefit from digital prevention tools when interventions include accessible design, low-literacy content, privacy safeguards, and user support. The digital prevention gap is multidimensional, reflecting both individual skill differences and structural barriers. Strengthening digital health literacy should be treated as a core strategy for equitable prevention, not merely as a technology-access issue.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.