The concept of electronic health (eHealth) literacy evolved from the social and information sciences and describes competencies necessary to use electronic health services. As it is a rather new topic, and as there is no current overview of the state of the art in research, it is not possible to identify research gaps. Therefore, the objective of this viewpoint article is to increase knowledge on the current state of the art of research in eHealth literacy and to identify gaps in scientific research which should be focused on by the research community in the future. The article provides a current viewpoint of the concept of eHealth literacy and related research. Gaps can be found in terms of a missing "gold standard" regarding both the definition and the measurement of eHealth literacy. Furthermore, there is a need for identifying the implications on eHealth developers, which evolve from the measurement of eHealth literacy in eHealth users. Finally, a stronger inclusion of health professionals, both in the evolving concept and in the measurement of eHealth literacy, is needed in the future.

BackgroundOnline health information seeking is an activity that needs to be explored in Scotland. While there are a growing number of studies that adopt a qualitative approach to this issue and attempt to understand the behaviors associated with online health information seeking, previous studies focusing on quantifying the prevalence and pattern of online health seeking in the United Kingdom have been based on Internet users in general.ObjectiveThis exploratory study sought to describe the prevalence of online health information seeking in a rural area of Scotland based on primary data from a patient population.MethodsA survey design was employed utilizing self-completed questionnaires, based on the Pew Internet and American Life Project; questionnaires were distributed among adult patients in 10 primary care centers in a rural community in Scotland.ResultsA convenience sample of 571 (0.10% of the total population in Grampian, N=581,198) patients completed the questionnaire. A total of 68.4% (379/554) of patients had previously used the Internet to acquire health information. A total of 25.4% (136/536) of patients consulted the Internet for health information regarding their current appointment on the day surveyed; 34.6% (47/136) of these patients were influenced to attend their appointment as a result of that online health information. A total of 43.2% (207/479) of patients stated the health information helped improve their health and 67.1% (290/432) indicated that they had learned something new. A total of 34.0% (146/430) of patients talked to a health professional about the information they had found and 90.0% (376/418) reported that the information was useful. In total, 70.4% (145/206) of patients were concerned about obtaining health information online from reliable sources. A total of 67.1% (139/207) of patients were concerned that a health site may sell their personal information, yet only 6.7% (36/535) checked the privacy policy of the site visited. However, 27.9% (55/197) of patients were not concerned about their employer finding out what health sites they visited, whereas 37.5% (78/208) were concerned that others would find out.ConclusionsThe results suggest that online health information-seeking behavior influences offline health-related behavior among the population surveyed. Patient attitudes to online health information seeking were focused on issues relating to trust, reliability, privacy, and confidentiality. This study provides support for the growing phenomenon of an empowered, computer-literate, health information consumer, and the impact of this phenomenon must be considered in the context of the patient-health professional dynamic. The unpredictable nature of human thought and action in relation to this field of study requires an ongoing program of ethnographic research, both physical and virtual, within a Health Web Science framework. This study has provided a baseline of the prevalence of online health information seeking in the Grampian region of Scotland.