The Influence of eHealth Literacy on Perceived Trust in Online Health Communication Channels and Sources
Open accessAbstract
Disparities in online health information accessibility are partially due to varying levels of eHealth literacy and perceived trust. This study examined the relationship between eHealth literacy and perceived trust in online health communication channels and sources among diverse sociodemographic groups. A stratified sample of Black/African Americans (n = 402) and Caucasians (n = 409) completed a Web-based survey that measured eHealth literacy and perceived trustworthiness of online health communication channels and information sources. eHealth literacy positively predicted perceived trust in online health communication channels and sources, but disparities existed by sociodemographic factors. Segmenting audiences according to eHealth literacy level provides a detailed understanding of how perceived trust in discrete online health communication channels and information sources varies among diverse audiences. Black/African Americans with low eHealth literacy had high perceived trust in YouTube and Twitter, whereas Black/African Americans with high eHealth literacy had high perceived trust in online government and religious organizations. Older adults with low eHealth literacy had high perceived trust in Facebook but low perceived trust in online support groups. Researchers and practitioners should consider the sociodemographics and eHealth literacy level of an intended audience when tailoring information through trustworthy online health communication channels and information sources.
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People hold different levels of trust in each social media platform.
“Prior work comparing trust across different social media platforms has collectively suggested that people hold diferent levels of trust in each platform [19,27,77,109].”
From What Do We Mean When We Talk about Trust in Social Media? A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [77]
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- Authors
- Paige, S. R., Krieger, J. L., & Stellefson, M. L.
- Affiliations
- University of Florida (US)
- Corresponding author
- Paige, Samantha R.
- Venue
- Journal of Health Communication
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-12-21
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 53-65
- ISSN
- 1081-0730 (ISSN-L)
- 1087-0415
- PMC
- PMC5551054
- OpenAlex
- W2561488778
- Cited by
- 300
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 145 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 18.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Health Communication (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (F31HL132463)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Keywords
- digital health literacy, perceived trust, online health communication, health information sources, sociodemographic disparities, African Americans, older adults, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, online support groups, audience segmentation, health information access
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Telemedicine, Internet, Trust, Young Adult, Health Literacy, Health Communication
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