The eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS): is it suitable for health education nursing officers in Sri Lanka?

Figures & data

Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics of the sample.

Characteristic	Value
	Mean (SD)
Age	40.13 (7.33)
Marital status	Number (%)
Single	8 (10.5)
Married	67 (88.2)
Widowed	1 (1.3)
Ethnicity
Sinhalese	46 (60.5)
Tamil	19 (25.0)
Moor	11 (14.5)
Education level
Up to GCE A/L*	7 (9.2)
Having a diploma	47 (61.8)
Having a degree	19 (25.0)
Having a postgraduate degree	3 (3.9)
Working experience as Nursing Officer
1–3 years	8 (10.5)
4–6 years	4 (5.3)
6–10 years	11 (14.5)
>10 years	53 (69.7)
Working experience as a HENO
<1	21 (27.6)
1–3 years	28 (36.8)
4–6 years	14 (18.4)
7–10 years	6 (7.9)
>10 years	7 (9.2)

* General Certificate of Education Advanced Level – which is similar to British Advanced Level, an exam conducted by Department of Examinations of the Ministry of Education. It is usually taken during their final two years of collegiate level (usual ages 18–19 years).

Table 2. eHealth literacy scale mean item scores, SD, factor loadings, communalities and reliability values.

Item	Mean	SD	Factor loading	Communalities	Item-total correlation	Cronbach’s alpha if item deleted
I know how to find helpful health resources on the Internet	4.01	0.622	0.742	0.550	0.685	0.887
I know how to use the Internet to answer my questions about health	4.08	0.536	0.821	0.674	0.777	0.882
I know what health resources are available on the Internet	4.05	0.539	0.746	0.556	0.712	0.887
I know where to find helpful health resources on the Internet	3.96	0.662	0.776	0.602	0.719	0.884
I know how to use the health information I find on the Internet to help me	4.00	0.653	0.698	0.487	0.673	0.888
I have the skills I need to evaluate the health resources I find on the Internet	3.79	0.822	0.735	0.540	0.692	0.887
I can tell high-quality health resources from low-quality health resources on the Internet	3.66	0.809	0.773	0.598	0.728	0.883
I feel confident in using information from the Internet to make health decisions	3.79	0.869	0.658	0.433	0.627	0.896

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, BMIG, upon reasonable request.