Table 1. Characteristics of included studies.
| Sources | Country | Study objectives | Study design | Percentage of females | Age of participants | Disease | Sample size | eHEALSa score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aponte et al, 2017 [11] | United States | To explore the experiences of older Hispanics with T2DMb in using the internet for DMc management. | Convergent mixed methods design: quantitative and qualitative | 50% | 74, range 68‐86 (5.59) | DM | 20 |
Mean ( SD ): 22.35 (12.9) |
| Guo et al, 2021 [29] | Taiwan | Examine online information-seeking behavior and mobile health app usage, investigate the factors related to mobile DHLd in Taiwanese patients with T2DM, and relationship between DHL, mobile health literacy, and health outcomes. | Cross-sectional study | 34.1% | Mean (SD): 44.58+−11.02 Median (IQR): Not reported |
DM | 249 |
Mean (SD): 30.16 (5.41), Range: 8‐40 |
| Kim et al, 2018 [30] | South Korea | Examine the association among DHL, perceived benefits, self-efficacy, and health-promoting behaviors in patients with T2DM, and identify factors that affect health-promoting behaviors. | Cross-sectional study | 46.3% | Mean (SD): 61.29 (10.99) | DM | 203 |
Mean (SD): 27.15 (5.43), Range: 8‐40 |
| Makowsky et al, 2022 [23] | Canada | Describe perceived DHL and explore the extent to which it is associated with sociodemographic, health status, and technology use variables in a subset of South Asian Canadians. | Cross-sectional study | 55.1% | Mean (SD): 39.9 (14.8) | DM and HTNe | Diabetes: 42 HTN: 55; |
Diabetes Mean (SD): 28.76 (6.25) HTN: 26.95 (8.35) |
| Rojanasumapong et al, 2021 [31] | Thailand | To explore the internet usage and DHL among adults aged 60 and older with HTN and associations between DHL and blood pressure control | Cross-sectional study | 57.3% | Mean (SD): 67 (5.23) | HTN | 110 | Mean ( SD ): 29.6 (4.15) |
| Sjöström et al, 2021 [32] | Sweden | Explore online COVID-19 information acquisition experiences among persons with T2DM and varying DHL. | Qualitative data from in-depth interviews and free-text answers from questions added to the eHEALS | 48.3% | Median: 73 Range: 41‐82 |
DM | 58 | Mean: 26 .67 |
| Taylor et al, 2021 [33] | 18 countries across Europe, Asia, and South America | Assessing the impact of inadequate response to DMARDsf on treatment satisfaction, disease outcomes, and patient perspectives related to RAg disease management. | Cross-sectional study | 84.2% | Mean (SD): 58.4 (13.1) | RA | 1601 | Mean ( SD ): 21.3 (8.4) |
| Rosalie van der Vaart, 2011 [10] | Netherlands | To assess the internal consistency, construct validity, and predictive validity of a Dutch translation of the eHEALS in 2 populations. | Cross- sectional study | 37% | Mean (SD): 52 (11) | RA | 189 | Mean ( SD ): 28.2 (5.9) |
a
eHEALS: eHealth Literacy Scale.
b
T2DM: type 2 diabetes mellitus.
c
DM: diabetes mellitus.
d
DHL: digital health literacy.
e
HTN: hypertension.
f
DMARDs: disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
g
RA: rheumatoid arthritis.