Digital health literacy of ICU survivors: A prospective cohort study

Digital recovery programs for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) survivors have demonstrated feasibility, compared to hospital-based face-to-face delivery. However, limited data exist regarding which survivors can participate and if barriers to uptake exist in some survivor groups. This study aimed to evaluate the digital health literacy of ICU survivors, including their access to use digital health technologies.

A multi-site prospective observational cohort study was conducted. Adult ICU patients admitted for more than 48 h were recruited 4-weeks post-discharge. Participants were consecutively sampled across additional characteristics of interest: older adults (over 65 years of age), rural-residing, and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD). Eligible patients were contacted via phone, and invited to participate in a single survey, using interpreters as required. The primary outcome measure was the Digital Health Readiness Questionnaire (DHRQ) general score, where greater scores indicate higher literacy. Secondary outcome measures included digital technology access (via the DHRQ digital usage score).

60 participants were enrolled, including 23 characterised as older adults, 21 rural-residing and 13 CALD. The median (Q1-Q3) DHRQ general score for the cohort was 56 (43-63), with highest scores in the rural-residing characteristic survivors (60 (53-65)) compared to the older adult (45 (26-54)) and CALD (41 (25-48)). The median DHRQ digital usage domain score was 15 (12-16), with highest scores for the rural-residing characteristic survivors, compared to the older adult and CALD (12 (9-15)).

Digital health literacy scores were moderate for all ICU survivor participants, with higher scores reported in survivors with the rural-residing characteristic.