Adaptation of Extended eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS-E) in Turkish: validity and reliability analysis

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Psychometrics
• Health Promotion

Background:

• eHealth literacy is crucial for effective health promotion.
• Existing eHealth literacy scales require adaptation for diverse linguistic populations.
• Assessing digital health literacy in Turkish populations is essential for public health initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt the Extended eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS-E) into Turkish.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties, including validity and reliability, of the Turkish version of the eHEALS-E.
• To provide a reliable tool for measuring eHealth literacy in Turkish-speaking individuals.

Main Methods:

• Methodological study involving adaptation and validation of a scale.
• Online survey administered to 395 participants.
• Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation analysis with HLS-EU-Q47, and reliability testing (Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, test-retest).

Main Results:

• The final 20-item Turkish eHEALS-E showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.896) and strong test-retest reliability (r = 0.794).
• EFA identified a four-factor structure explaining 58.9% of the variance.
• The scale demonstrated good convergent validity with the HLS-EU-Q47 (r = 0.514).

Conclusions:

• The Turkish adaptation of the eHEALS-E is a valid and reliable instrument.
• This tool can be effectively used by healthcare professionals and researchers.
• It facilitates the assessment of eHealth literacy and the development of targeted health interventions for Turkish populations.